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SINGAPORE – He called his stepson the “son of a prostitute” and broke his award for good behavior, claiming the boy did not deserve it.
The degrading comments weren’t the only form of abuse the 43-year-old woman subjected her stepson, who was then 11 years old. She also slapped him on the cheeks and hit him on the head with a cup, and hit him on the nose, on different occasions, drawing blood with each act of violence.
The Singaporean woman, who cannot be identified due to a gag order, pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse on Tuesday (September 1), and two similar charges should be taken into account when she is sentenced.
The woman lived with her stepson, her father, to whom she was married, and her biological daughter in a public housing apartment.
The abuse occurred as early as November 2016, when the boy placed an empty plate in the sink after finishing his meal. After a while, the woman called him into the kitchen and asked him to wash the plate, saying, “You think I’m your maid, right?” As he did as instructed, the woman hit him on the back of his neck with a ceramic mug and made him bleed.
When she realized that the wound was bleeding, the woman took the child to the bathroom to wash it and informed her husband about the incident. The boy was taken to a hospital where his three scalp lacerations were treated. No police report was then filed, as the woman apologized and promised not to hit the boy again.
However, she did not keep her word. On May 19, 2017, she slapped the boy multiple times in the face after she did not remember a question from the English test. The boy felt dizzy and heard a buzzing in her head. She also noticed the taste of blood in her mouth. He was taken to the home of a relative the next day and his paternal aunt filed a police report after observing his injuries.
The aunt decided to report the matter, since it was not the first time that her stepmother had mistreated the child.
Failed intervention
During the investigations, the stepmother was called in to provide a police statement. However, the victim told police that she loved her stepmother and did not want her to be charged in court.
Instead, the family was referred to the Kampong Kapor Family Services Center, through the intervention of the Ministry of Social and Family Development. The family was placed in the “Safe and Strong Families” (SSF) program in October 2017.
But the family dropped out of the show before it was completed. The woman did not cooperate with SSF workers and continued to insist that the victim was wrong and deserved discipline, the prosecution told the court.
Between May 2017 and June 2018, the woman used degrading insults to the victim, calling him a “son of a prostitute” and breaking his Good Conduct Award, justifying that he did not deserve it.
He again inflicted violence on the boy on July 20, 2018, after the boy lied saying that he had cleaned the kitchen toilet and swept the floor according to his instructions, despite not doing so. Upset, the woman hit the boy on the nose and made him bleed.
Seven days later, when the woman was informed that her stepson had not attended remedial classes at school, she became angry and repeatedly slapped him. He then hit him in the face and arms with a bag and punched him in the upper arm. As a result, the boy suffered bruises and cuts on his body.
His teacher noticed his injuries at school and reported the matter to the assistant principal. When the vice principal spoke to the boy, the boy told him that there was “nothing wrong” with what his stepmother had done.
The boy was taken to the hospital on July 30, 2018, where he received treatment for scratches, bruises and abrasions.
The woman will return to court for mitigation and sentencing on October 6.
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