Mum, daughters jailed for pouring hot oil on boy
Published on Dec 28, 2011
By Khushwant Singh
In one of the most horrific cases of child abuse seen by the courts, a boy was beaten repeatedly, burned with heated objects and had his fingers cut for allegedly stealing food from a family he lived with in an Ang Mo Kio flat.
District Judge Liew Thiam Leng noted that the victim suffered torture and suffering from 2009 to June 2011 and said that the injuries were very serious with the child, now 10 years old, suffering permanent disfigurement and multiple first degree burns.
The 45-year-old woman and her two daughters had pleaded guilty on Wednesday to causing grievous hurt to the boy.
She was jailed for five years and the daughters jailed 20 months each. The elder child, 24, was also convicted of cheating a cleaning firm of some $2,300, and was jailed a further two months.
The court had earlier heard that on one occasion in January or February 2011, the daughters complained to the mother that the boy had finished all the food in the house.
The cleaner had just returned from work and was furious. She asked her three children to hold the boy's hands and legs. She then heated some cooking oil. Using a ladle, she poured it on his face, naked chest and back.
Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
