Mother of girl with special needs gets jail for allowing boyfriend to beat daughter with belt

SINGAPORE: A man and a woman were sentenced to jail on Tuesday (Sep 17) over a beating of an 11-year-old girl with special needs that left her covered with bruises.
All parties cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, who is now 15 and has high-functioning autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The woman – the victim’s mother – was handed 10 months’ jail, while the man – the woman’s boyfriend – was given 12 months’ jail.
The two 36-year-old Singaporeans had pleaded guilty to a charge each under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) for knowingly permitting the ill-treatment of a child and ill-treating a child.
In sentencing, District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan said he took into account the man’s major depressive disorder, which affected his capacity to exercise self-control.
He adjusted the man’s sentence downwards by three months because of this. However, he noted that a psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health had found that the man was still aware of the wrongfulness of his actions and did not give any further downward adjustment.
Judge Shaiffudin listed various aggravating factors in the case – the extensive injuries on the girl’s arms and legs from being hit with a belt multiple times, her 10-day hospitalisation and the psychological harm the ill-treatment caused her.
The victim harboured sadness and fear, including a fear of returning to the flat. She also has nightmares and thoughts about the recurrent beatings, said the judge.
As the girl had special needs, she was of “especially high vulnerability”, and there were breaches of trust by both her mother and the man, whom the victim called “daddy”.
In inflicting physical violence on the victim, the man had acted wilfully, which means he is more culpable and should get a harsher sentence, the judge noted.
However, he also considered the mitigating factors in the case, which were the couple’s plea of guilt and cooperation with the police, as well as the man’s mental condition.
The victim’s mother had a “very difficult marriage”, according to her lawyer Mr Kalidass Murugaiyan.
She met her co-accused in 2019 and he initially had a good relationship with her daughter, who also has a mild fluency disorder and dyslexia.
From February 2020, the couple began beating the girl with a hanger for misbehaving and later used a cane.
The man assumed the role of disciplinarian, according to the defence, and punished the girl in various manners for things like not wanting to wake up or do her homework.
The victim’s mother was always present during the caning and allowed it.
The man left cane marks on the girl, which were spotted by her teacher and led to a meeting being scheduled for Aug 26, 2020.
However, before the meeting could take place, the man gave the girl a beating with a belt that left her with bruises and marks on her face, arms and legs.
He hit her about 20 times with the belt, using the end that did not have a buckle.
The victim’s teacher later saw the extensive bruises on her, spoke to her and flagged the incident to her school.
The case was raised to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the police were called in.
The couple admitted during investigations that they had gone overboard and punished the girl very harshly. 
The prosecution had sought 12 to 14 months in prison for the man and 10 to 12 months for the woman, while the defence asked for four months for the man and three for the woman.
The judge allowed the couple to begin their jail terms on Nov 1 – for the woman to settle work issues and accompany her father to an eye appointment, and for the man to settle car-rental matters and make some arrangements for his four pets.
CNA understands that the child has been placed with other members of her family and is no longer under the care of the couple.
The penalty for ill-treating a child under the CYPA, or allowing such ill-treatment, is a jail term of up to eight years, a fine of up to S$8,000 (US$6,180), or both.