SINGAPORE: A mother who hit her six-year-old son more than 100 times with a belt because he was misbehaving was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on Friday (Aug 2).
On top of the beating, the woman also punched the boy, made him do a handstand and kicked and slapped him.
A gag order was imposed by the court to protect the victim’s identity, with certain details of the case including how many children the woman has redacted from court documents.
Footage of the beating was played in court previously, with the public and media told to leave, but the cries of the boy were loud enough to be heard from outside.
In sentencing, District Judge Carol Ling said the footage was “hard to watch” and that excessive force and violence, even in the name of discipline, cannot be tolerated.
However, she noted that it was an isolated incident that did not result in permanent injuries and found the woman remorseful.
The woman pleaded guilty last year to one count under the Children and Young Persons Act of ill-treating a child in her care.
A second charge for lying that it was her boyfriend who had beaten her son was taken into consideration.
At the time of the offence in 2020, the woman lived with her then-boyfriend, as well as her children and other relatives.
On May 11, 2020, she punched her son for misbehaving and made him do a handstand, but he could not maintain the pose.
She struck him with a belt, using both the strap and buckle, for about 10 minutes, as well as kicked and slapped him.
The woman later took her son to a neighbourhood police centre and lied that her boyfriend had beaten him. A doctor found more than 50 bruises and abrasions on the boy.
The woman was later seen at the Institute of Mental Health and diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood.
The court heard that the mother’s relationship with her son is on the mend and that she is allowed access to him under the supervision of a child protection officer.
The judge allowed her to begin her sentence in September.
For ill-treating a child in her care, the woman could have been jailed for up to eight years, fined up to S$8,000, or both.