SINGAPORE: Unhappy that her son was misbehaving, a mother of several children punched the six-year-old boy and made him do a handstand.
She then stuck him more than 100 times with a belt.
The next day, she took him to a doctor and lied that her boyfriend had beaten her son.
The 32-year-old woman pleaded guilty on Thursday (Aug 17) to one count under the Children and Young Persons Act of ill-treating a child in her care.
A second charge of giving false information to a public servant will be considered in sentencing.
All parties in this case cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the victim.
The court heard that the accused lived with her then-boyfriend along with her children and other relatives at the time of the offences in 2020.
Around noon on May 11 that year, she was in her bedroom with several of her children, including the victim.
She punched her six-year-old son for misbehaving and asked him to do a handstand, but the boy could not maintain the pose.
She later struck him with a belt over a period of about 10 minutes and kicked and slapped him.
The boy cried out in pain but his mother ignored his pleas for her to stop.
In total, she beat him more than 100 times with the belt, using both the strap and the buckle, all over his body including his face. The acts were captured by a closed-circuit television camera in the flat.
Footage of the beating was played in court, but the public and media were told to leave the courtroom while it was being played. Still, the cries of the boy were audible enough to be heard from outside.
The day after hurting the boy, the woman took her son to a neighbourhood police centre and lied that her boyfriend had beaten him. There were bruises on his body and scratches on his face.
A doctor who examined the boy noted that he had sustained more than 50 bruises and abrasions.
The woman was later seen by a doctor from the Institute of Mental Health. She was diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood.
The prosecution and defence differ on whether this condition contributed to the woman’s offence.
The case has been adjourned to November for a Newton hearing, which is called to settle issues the defence and prosecution are unable to agree on before mitigation and sentencing are carried out.
For ill-treating a child in her care, the woman could be jailed for up to eight years, fined up to S$8,000, or both.