SINGAPORE: A man on Tuesday (Sep 19) admitted to killing his toddler, four years after the girl's charred remains were found in a cooking pot in a flat.
The 35-year-old Singaporean cannot be named due to gag orders to protect the surviving victims. The gag orders imposed by the court also cover the identity of the wife and where the killing occurred.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
He also pleaded guilty to three charges including rioting, ill-treating his stepson and consuming a specified drug. Another five charges will be considered in sentencing.
The court heard that the man and his wife had four children of their own, including the two-and-a-half-year-old victim who was born in 2011.
The wife had a daughter and a son from a previous marriage.
When the victim was three to four months old in November 2011, she was placed in foster care as her father had been detained in a drug rehabilitation centre and her mother was assessed to be unable to take care of her.
In June 2013, the girl was returned to her parents.
She often cried and was not comfortable with her parents as she had spent one-and-a-half years in foster care and her parents were not familiar to her, the prosecution said.
The court heard that the girl was abused by her parents until her eventual death. Her father would hit her with items such as a belt or a hanger and would punch her thigh and pinch her body.
The couple also abused their other children in a similar fashion.
In March 2014, the accused and his wife were upset at the girl as she was playing with her faeces after soiling her diaper.
When the girl cried "despite being asked not to", her mother slapped her cheeks and "flicked her lips", the prosecution said.
The accused, who had consumed meth earlier that morning, forcefully slapped his daughter two to three times.
As a result, the girl's legs went weak and she sat on the floor. Her body started leaning to the right while her upper body leaned forward, and she stopped crying and started gasping for air.
Her mother saw blood and liquid coming out of her mouth and nose.
The girl had suffered a significant traumatic brain injury which led to a concussive brain seizure.
Her father performed a few rounds of cardiopulmonary resuscitation but she did not respond. Despite the life-threatening nature of her injuries, neither parent called the police or an ambulance or took her to hospital.
They were concerned that they would be arrested for her injuries. The accused was also worried about being arrested for his drug use.
It is possible that medical intervention could have saved the girl, the prosecution said.
The couple tried to cover their tracks, destroying evidence and lying to the authorities and their own family members about the victim's whereabouts.
On the day the girl died, her parents placed her body in a metal pot and set her body on fire in the back of the accused's lorry.
They made sure her body was fully burnt before placing the pot in a cardboard box, sealing it with masking tape and covering it in cling wrap.
They took the box back to their flat and kept it under the kitchen stove.
The girl's uncle, named only as Z, was cautioned against touching the box and told it contained the accused's items from his lorry.
The couple gave various lies to explain their daughter's absence, such as claiming that she had been returned to her foster parents or that she was being cared for by relatives.
When the Ministry of Education contacted them in 2017 to check why the girl had not registered for Primary 1, the mother lied that her estranged husband had taken the child away, while the accused lied that his relatives were caring for the girl in Malaysia.
The mother's brother, Z, became increasingly curious and concerned about the contents of the box. He tried to throw it away as it was dirty and there were cockroach eggs in the cling wrap.
When the girl's mother found out, she had the box freshly wrapped and warned her brother not to touch it again.
After the girl's mother went to prison, her brother opened the box and saw a lump that was decomposed and wet.
He later showed the contents of the pot to his sister's friends when they visited the flat after attending her sentencing for other crimes.
The friends felt uneasy and reported it to the police.
The case continues on Tuesday.
The man is represented by three sets of lawyers: Mr Si Hoe Tat Chorng from Acacia Legal, Ms Harjeet Kaur Dhaliwal from Withers KhattarWong and Mr Ramesh Tiwary.
Continue reading...
The 35-year-old Singaporean cannot be named due to gag orders to protect the surviving victims. The gag orders imposed by the court also cover the identity of the wife and where the killing occurred.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
He also pleaded guilty to three charges including rioting, ill-treating his stepson and consuming a specified drug. Another five charges will be considered in sentencing.
The court heard that the man and his wife had four children of their own, including the two-and-a-half-year-old victim who was born in 2011.
The wife had a daughter and a son from a previous marriage.
When the victim was three to four months old in November 2011, she was placed in foster care as her father had been detained in a drug rehabilitation centre and her mother was assessed to be unable to take care of her.
In June 2013, the girl was returned to her parents.
She often cried and was not comfortable with her parents as she had spent one-and-a-half years in foster care and her parents were not familiar to her, the prosecution said.
The court heard that the girl was abused by her parents until her eventual death. Her father would hit her with items such as a belt or a hanger and would punch her thigh and pinch her body.
The couple also abused their other children in a similar fashion.
In March 2014, the accused and his wife were upset at the girl as she was playing with her faeces after soiling her diaper.
When the girl cried "despite being asked not to", her mother slapped her cheeks and "flicked her lips", the prosecution said.
The accused, who had consumed meth earlier that morning, forcefully slapped his daughter two to three times.
As a result, the girl's legs went weak and she sat on the floor. Her body started leaning to the right while her upper body leaned forward, and she stopped crying and started gasping for air.
Her mother saw blood and liquid coming out of her mouth and nose.
The girl had suffered a significant traumatic brain injury which led to a concussive brain seizure.
Her father performed a few rounds of cardiopulmonary resuscitation but she did not respond. Despite the life-threatening nature of her injuries, neither parent called the police or an ambulance or took her to hospital.
They were concerned that they would be arrested for her injuries. The accused was also worried about being arrested for his drug use.
It is possible that medical intervention could have saved the girl, the prosecution said.
COVERING THEIR TRACKS
The couple tried to cover their tracks, destroying evidence and lying to the authorities and their own family members about the victim's whereabouts.
On the day the girl died, her parents placed her body in a metal pot and set her body on fire in the back of the accused's lorry.
They made sure her body was fully burnt before placing the pot in a cardboard box, sealing it with masking tape and covering it in cling wrap.
They took the box back to their flat and kept it under the kitchen stove.
The girl's uncle, named only as Z, was cautioned against touching the box and told it contained the accused's items from his lorry.
The couple gave various lies to explain their daughter's absence, such as claiming that she had been returned to her foster parents or that she was being cared for by relatives.
When the Ministry of Education contacted them in 2017 to check why the girl had not registered for Primary 1, the mother lied that her estranged husband had taken the child away, while the accused lied that his relatives were caring for the girl in Malaysia.
The mother's brother, Z, became increasingly curious and concerned about the contents of the box. He tried to throw it away as it was dirty and there were cockroach eggs in the cling wrap.
When the girl's mother found out, she had the box freshly wrapped and warned her brother not to touch it again.
After the girl's mother went to prison, her brother opened the box and saw a lump that was decomposed and wet.
He later showed the contents of the pot to his sister's friends when they visited the flat after attending her sentencing for other crimes.
The friends felt uneasy and reported it to the police.
The case continues on Tuesday.
The man is represented by three sets of lawyers: Mr Si Hoe Tat Chorng from Acacia Legal, Ms Harjeet Kaur Dhaliwal from Withers KhattarWong and Mr Ramesh Tiwary.
Continue reading...