SINGAPORE: A man physically abused his two-month-old daughter by shaking her until she fractured her skull and ribs, but managed to keep the crimes hidden by instigating his wife to lie to the police.
He repeated the violence against his son who was born a few years later, shoving the two-year-old boy until he vomited and developed seizures.
The 34-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the victims’ identities, was sentenced to 10 years and four weeks’ jail along with 12 strokes of the cane on Tuesday (Aug 1).
He pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntarily causing grievous hurt and one charge of lying to the police. Another eight charges were considered in sentencing.
The court heard that the man and his 28-year-old wife have several children together.
In May 2018, the couple were home when their two-month-old daughter began crying.
With his wife in the shower, the man picked the baby up and began rocking her up and down such that her head was wobbling, shaking her forcefully in a manner the prosecution likened to a “baby spring”.
Frustrated with her cries, he rocked her faster the louder she cried.
When the man’s wife came out of the shower, she immediately took the child from her husband.
The baby cried throughout the night and her parents took her to hospital the next day.
Doctors found bleeding on the surface of her brain, a skull fracture, two fractured ribs and bleeding in her eyes.
The injuries were found to be non-accidental, with evidence of shaken baby syndrome. The child was hospitalised for 33 days.
The police were called in and took statements from the offender, who claimed he did not know how the baby fractured her skull. He claimed he had noticed a bump on his daughter’s head a few days before, and thought she had gotten it from a bed bug or mosquito bite.
He also attributed the skull and rib fractures to an older child, whom he said was “very active” and might have jumped on the victim.
CHILDREN PLACED IN FOSTER CARE
In August that year, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) intervened and placed the baby in foster care.
They also placed the offender’s son in foster care in September 2019, soon after he was born, but allowed both children to stay with their parents over weekends.
The man then turned violent towards his son, who was two years old in the latter half of 2021.
The young boy had expressed reluctance to visit his parents’ flat.
On Sep 20, 2021, when a child protection coordinator from MSF took the boy to the offender’s flat for his usual weekend homestay, the boy did not want to enter.
His mother took videos of him crying or walking away from the flat when he was supposed to stay over, and sent them to her husband, before carrying the boy in.
When the offender got home that evening, he began watching the videos while alone with his son in the living room.
ANGERED AT TODDLER SON
He grew angry, and asked the boy why he did not want to enter the flat.
When the toddler did not reply, the man got even angrier. He shoved his son’s head multiple times, causing the boy to fall sideways repeatedly.
The boy finally shook his head before walking away unsteadily. The offender saw that his son appeared drowsy, and asked him to lie down on a mat.
The boy vomited twice and his father took him to the toilet to clean him up, and noticed that the child appeared weak.
The toddler later developed seizures and his father administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him.
The man and his wife eventually took the boy to KKH’s Children’s Emergency department. A CT scan revealed bleeding in the boy’s skull, with a fracture of the bone.
The boy underwent surgery that day and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. He stayed in hospital for 24 days.
His father was arrested and assessed at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), which found that he had no mental illness.
He however “lacked insight into his behaviour and actions” and seemed to have “a poor understanding of a child’s cognitive maturity and emotional needs”, an IMH report said.
He also had “a tendency to minimise his actions” and did not seem to be aware of appropriate disciplinary methods for children.
The report stated that the man required further guidance in developing his parenting skills, or there would be a continued risk of violence towards his wife and young children.
The prosecution called for jail of between 10 years and four weeks, and 11 years and six weeks, along with 12 strokes of the cane.
They said the court must send a clear message that the law will not tolerate “parents who inflict gratuitous violence against their children”.
Prosecutors said the offender had repeatedly inflicted violence on his biological children, who were innocent and blameless.
“He even lied to the police and instigated his wife to do the same to cover up his actions,” said the prosecutors.
The man’s wife does not currently face any charges.