Man jailed for 3 weeks for assaulting ex-girlfriend and their 3-year-old daughter
The man admitted to physically hurting both his ex-girlfriend and the child.
[video=youtube;4eFoP_6_AhE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eFoP_6_AhE[/video]
Published 11 hours ago
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent
SINGAPORE - A man was jailed for three weeks on Monday (March 14) for assaulting his former girlfriend and their three-year-old daughter.
The 23-year-old, who works in a pest control company, admitted to kicking the child's head, grabbing her right arm and throwing her on a mattress. He also admitted to punching, kicking and slapping his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend, pulling her hair and knocking her head against a door.
He is not being named to protect the identity of the child.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Shen Wanqin said that the man and the woman entered into a relationship in January 2013.
After the girl was born to them, he began to be verbally abusive towards them. He moved out of her unit in Bukit Panjang some time in October last year, but continued to visit them occasionally.
Investigation showed that the man had information that the woman was in a relationship.
On Jan 6 this year, he went to her flat and saw a man standing outside. He asked the man who he was waiting for, and the latter said he was waiting for the woman.
The accused then entered the flat and asked the woman for the man's identity after waking her up. She told him he was her boyfriend.
He was infuriated. During a quarrel, he punched her three times on the face and kicked her in the kidney area once. He shouted vulgarities and slapped her several times, pulled her hair and knocked her head against the door.
When he heard his daughter crying, he became angry and hurled vulgarities at the child and told her to stop crying. He kicked her on the head and grabbed her right arm. He then threw her on the bed. The woman tried to intervene but he closed the room door.
After a while, she managed to enter the room and she carried the child out.
By then police had been alerted. They arrested the accused.
The woman was treated in hospital for contusions and was given medical leave until Jan 8. The girl suffered a superficial blood clot on her head.
Community Court judge Lim Keng Yeow said he was particularly disturbed by how the accused used violence against his three-year-old daughter.
"Even if you had been angry with another adult person, there would be no justification whatsoever, no excuse whatever, for injuring the child who is helpless, vulnerable and who is in fact your own daughter," he said.
Judge Lim said a custodial sentence was amply justifiable and necessary in this case. He warned the man to expect a longer sentence if he breached a personal protection order which the victim has obtained for herself and the child.
A criminal intimidation charge was taken into consideration during sentencing. The man could have been jailed for up to two years and fined $5,000 on each charge of causing hurt.
