SINGAPORE: The mother of a two-year-old girl who was killed by her father and her body burnt in a pot pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Feb 7) to charges of abusing her children and perverting justice.
This includes feeding her eldest son and the now-deceased girl chilli padi as punishment, hitting them with a belt and hanger, and slapping them.
Her charges taken into consideration include lying to a Child Protection Service officer that she had six children when she had seven, deliberately omitting the girl who was killed.
The 35-year-old woman also ill-treated her children by leaving them in the flat without adequate food and water and without adult supervision.
Case workers who made visits to the flat found the children unsupervised on five occasions, with the eldest son who was 10 at the time caring for his younger siblings and skipping school.
At times, they had no food and no water and were thirsty and hungry.
The offender cannot be named due to gag orders protecting her surviving children. She has been remanded since September 2019 and was initially charged with murder along with her husband, but the charge was later withdrawn.
Her husband was sentenced to 21-and-a-half years' jail and 18 strokes of the cane for causing his daughter's death in September. During the High Court hearing, the judge partially lifted the gag order, stressing that the victim's first name Umaisyah had to be published so she could be remembered by her name.
Umaisyah's parents had multiple children from different marriages, and she was placed in foster care at three to four months of age before being returned to her parents almost two years later.
She was abused by her parents until March 2014, when her drug-taking father forcefully slapped her and caused a traumatic brain injury leading to a concussive brain seizure.
Her father tried to resuscitate her but she could not be saved. The parents, concerned about being arrested, then decided not to take her to hospital or call for help.
To hide their tracks, they burnt Umaisyah's body in a metal pot, placed the pot in a cardboard box and covered it in cling wrap before stashing it under the kitchen stove in their flat.
The pot stayed there for more than five years while Umaisyah's parents offered various excuses and lies to government officials to prevent detection of Umaisyah's death.
At various points, Umaisyah's uncle felt curious about the pot and kept trying to open it. Eventually he did so when Umaisyah's mother was in jail.
He showed the contents of the pot to his sister's friends and they reported it to the police.
Authorities recovered the child's body, which was burnt beyond recognition and reduced to charred remains, small bones and a loose tooth.
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This includes feeding her eldest son and the now-deceased girl chilli padi as punishment, hitting them with a belt and hanger, and slapping them.
Her charges taken into consideration include lying to a Child Protection Service officer that she had six children when she had seven, deliberately omitting the girl who was killed.
The 35-year-old woman also ill-treated her children by leaving them in the flat without adequate food and water and without adult supervision.
Case workers who made visits to the flat found the children unsupervised on five occasions, with the eldest son who was 10 at the time caring for his younger siblings and skipping school.
At times, they had no food and no water and were thirsty and hungry.
The offender cannot be named due to gag orders protecting her surviving children. She has been remanded since September 2019 and was initially charged with murder along with her husband, but the charge was later withdrawn.
Her husband was sentenced to 21-and-a-half years' jail and 18 strokes of the cane for causing his daughter's death in September. During the High Court hearing, the judge partially lifted the gag order, stressing that the victim's first name Umaisyah had to be published so she could be remembered by her name.
WHAT HAPPENED TO UMAISYAH
Umaisyah's parents had multiple children from different marriages, and she was placed in foster care at three to four months of age before being returned to her parents almost two years later.
She was abused by her parents until March 2014, when her drug-taking father forcefully slapped her and caused a traumatic brain injury leading to a concussive brain seizure.
Her father tried to resuscitate her but she could not be saved. The parents, concerned about being arrested, then decided not to take her to hospital or call for help.
To hide their tracks, they burnt Umaisyah's body in a metal pot, placed the pot in a cardboard box and covered it in cling wrap before stashing it under the kitchen stove in their flat.
The pot stayed there for more than five years while Umaisyah's parents offered various excuses and lies to government officials to prevent detection of Umaisyah's death.
At various points, Umaisyah's uncle felt curious about the pot and kept trying to open it. Eventually he did so when Umaisyah's mother was in jail.
He showed the contents of the pot to his sister's friends and they reported it to the police.
Authorities recovered the child's body, which was burnt beyond recognition and reduced to charred remains, small bones and a loose tooth.
Continue reading...