The Electric New Paper :
S'PORE MAN JAILED 7 YEARS FOR KILLING TODDLER
BITTEN & THEN BEATEN TO DEATH
He punches boy's face
He slams boy's head against door frame
He pinches boy's genitals, then bites genitals, thigh & nose
He slaps boy hard on back
HIS mother had hoped that her lover would become his stepfather and help to raise him after her marriage ended.
By Chong Shin Yen
21 May 2009
HIS mother had hoped that her lover would become his stepfather and help to raise him after her marriage ended.
Instead, her boyfriend became jealous of the toddler because he felt she cared more for her son than him.
As they argued frequently, his temper became worse and he grew more impatient with the boy.
On the day Muhammad Izzul Salihin Muhammad Farzid turned 3 on 14 Jan last year, tragedy struck.
The boyfriend bashed him so brutally that the toddler became brain-dead and died in hospital four days later.
Firdaus Abdullah, 27, was yesterday jailed for seven years and given 12 strokes of the cane after a nine-day trial. He was convicted of causing grievous hurt and ill-treating the boy.
The day before the tragedy, the couple had fought over Izzul.
His mother, Madam Nadiyana Yacoub, shouted at Firdaus to leave her flat as she wanted to find a better stepfather for her son.
This incensed Firdaus.
The next day at about 7.30am, Madam Nadiyana went to the Syariah Court for her divorce proceedings, leaving Firdaus to look after Izzul.
Soon after she left, the boy started crying because he wanted his mother.
Firdaus tried to pacify him but to no avail. Frustrated by the incessant crying, Firdaus shouted at Izzul and made him stand in the bedroom and face the wall.
When the boy ended up crying even louder, Firdaus snapped.
He hit and punched Izzul's face and forehead again and again.
He also hit the boy's chin with an upward punch.
He then grabbed Izzul's face, lifted him and swung him in the air before slamming his head against the bedroom's door frame.
He pulled down the boy's diapers, grabbed his penis, then shook, squeezed, pinched and pulled it violently.
Firdaus then bit his genitals, right thigh and nose.
He finally gave Izzul a hard slap on his back.
By the time he was done, the boy's cries had become softer.
Sensing something amiss, Firdaus went to ask his neighbours for help to call for an ambulance.
The boy was rushed to KK Women's and Children's Hospital with multiple injuries.
He underwent emergency surgery and was warded in the intensive care unit. But he died without waking four days later.
Earlier attack
The court also heard that Firdaus had also hit Izzul two days before the fatal attack.
He was angry after the boy kept crying and refused to let Firdaus towel him dry after his shower.
Firdaus clenched his fist and hit the boy on his head, causing him to fall on his buttocks.
He hit Izzul so hard that his own knuckles became swollen.
Firdaus had moved in with Madam Nadiyana in her rental flat at Jalan Minyak, off Chin Swee Road, in late 2007 and agreed to be Izzul's stepfather, the court was told.
But he became jealous because he felt she was closer to her son.
He complained about how she paid more attention to the boy and also about how she spent more time with him.
They argued frequently over this and by December 2007, Firdaus had become bad-tempered, frustrated, stressed and impatient with the boy.
He was originally charged with murder, but it was later reduced to one charge of causing grievous hurt and two charges of ill-treating a child.
In his defence, he claimed that the boy had fallen down twice after the beatings.
He also said that he had tried to resuscitate the boy after his fall.
But Deputy Public Prosecutor Royce Wee said that even if Firdaus did try to save the boy, it was clearly 'too little, too late'.
He added that his brutal and savage attacks had inflicted serious injuries on a young and defenceless child, causing him to die.
Firdaus did not have a lawyer. He had nothing to say in his mitigation.
Izzul's father, Mr Muhammad Farzid, 30, and grandmother were in court yesterday for the sentencing. His mother did not show up.
Till today, Mr Muhammad Farzid still can't understand how Firdaus could have attacked his son so viciously.
He told The New Paper that he had doted on his only child so much that he could not bear to scold or beat him when he misbehaved.
He said it really hurt to see how badly he was beaten up, and that it's still painful just to think of him now.
He carries a photo of Izzul in his wallet, and there isn't a day when he doesn't think of him. The photograph is all that he's left with now, he said.
Mr Muhammad Farzid, who used to be a general worker at a mosque, visits his son's grave at the Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery every month.
He is no longer in touch with his ex-wife. Their marriage fell apart in 2007 and he moved out.
He last saw his son a week before the tragedy when the boy accompanied his mother to court.
Izzul was lively and cheerful and had called him 'daddy', he recalled.
Mr Muhammad Farzid said the day Izzul was born, on 14 Jan, 2005, was the happiest day of his life.
'He's my first child and his birth symbolised my next generation,' he said.
'That day, I put down my work and rushed to the hospital to witness his birth. I was so happy.'
Izzul was born two months' premature and had to be warded for three months.
Exactly three years later, he was back at the same hospital, praying for his little boy to pull through.
'He should have been celebrating his third birthday instead, cutting his birthday cake and surrounded by people who love him,' said Mr Muhammad Farzid, tears welling up.
'I only managed to celebrate two birthdays with him, and then he was gone.'
For causing grievous hurt, Firdaus could have been jailed seven years and caned.
For ill-treating a child, he could have been jailed four years and fined $4,000.
S'PORE MAN JAILED 7 YEARS FOR KILLING TODDLER
BITTEN & THEN BEATEN TO DEATH
He punches boy's face
He slams boy's head against door frame
He pinches boy's genitals, then bites genitals, thigh & nose
He slaps boy hard on back
HIS mother had hoped that her lover would become his stepfather and help to raise him after her marriage ended.
By Chong Shin Yen
21 May 2009
HIS mother had hoped that her lover would become his stepfather and help to raise him after her marriage ended.
Instead, her boyfriend became jealous of the toddler because he felt she cared more for her son than him.
As they argued frequently, his temper became worse and he grew more impatient with the boy.
On the day Muhammad Izzul Salihin Muhammad Farzid turned 3 on 14 Jan last year, tragedy struck.
The boyfriend bashed him so brutally that the toddler became brain-dead and died in hospital four days later.
Firdaus Abdullah, 27, was yesterday jailed for seven years and given 12 strokes of the cane after a nine-day trial. He was convicted of causing grievous hurt and ill-treating the boy.
The day before the tragedy, the couple had fought over Izzul.
His mother, Madam Nadiyana Yacoub, shouted at Firdaus to leave her flat as she wanted to find a better stepfather for her son.
This incensed Firdaus.
The next day at about 7.30am, Madam Nadiyana went to the Syariah Court for her divorce proceedings, leaving Firdaus to look after Izzul.
Soon after she left, the boy started crying because he wanted his mother.
Firdaus tried to pacify him but to no avail. Frustrated by the incessant crying, Firdaus shouted at Izzul and made him stand in the bedroom and face the wall.
When the boy ended up crying even louder, Firdaus snapped.
He hit and punched Izzul's face and forehead again and again.
He also hit the boy's chin with an upward punch.
He then grabbed Izzul's face, lifted him and swung him in the air before slamming his head against the bedroom's door frame.
He pulled down the boy's diapers, grabbed his penis, then shook, squeezed, pinched and pulled it violently.
Firdaus then bit his genitals, right thigh and nose.
He finally gave Izzul a hard slap on his back.
By the time he was done, the boy's cries had become softer.
Sensing something amiss, Firdaus went to ask his neighbours for help to call for an ambulance.
The boy was rushed to KK Women's and Children's Hospital with multiple injuries.
He underwent emergency surgery and was warded in the intensive care unit. But he died without waking four days later.
Earlier attack
The court also heard that Firdaus had also hit Izzul two days before the fatal attack.
He was angry after the boy kept crying and refused to let Firdaus towel him dry after his shower.
Firdaus clenched his fist and hit the boy on his head, causing him to fall on his buttocks.
He hit Izzul so hard that his own knuckles became swollen.
Firdaus had moved in with Madam Nadiyana in her rental flat at Jalan Minyak, off Chin Swee Road, in late 2007 and agreed to be Izzul's stepfather, the court was told.
But he became jealous because he felt she was closer to her son.
He complained about how she paid more attention to the boy and also about how she spent more time with him.
They argued frequently over this and by December 2007, Firdaus had become bad-tempered, frustrated, stressed and impatient with the boy.
He was originally charged with murder, but it was later reduced to one charge of causing grievous hurt and two charges of ill-treating a child.
In his defence, he claimed that the boy had fallen down twice after the beatings.
He also said that he had tried to resuscitate the boy after his fall.
But Deputy Public Prosecutor Royce Wee said that even if Firdaus did try to save the boy, it was clearly 'too little, too late'.
He added that his brutal and savage attacks had inflicted serious injuries on a young and defenceless child, causing him to die.
Firdaus did not have a lawyer. He had nothing to say in his mitigation.
Izzul's father, Mr Muhammad Farzid, 30, and grandmother were in court yesterday for the sentencing. His mother did not show up.
Till today, Mr Muhammad Farzid still can't understand how Firdaus could have attacked his son so viciously.
He told The New Paper that he had doted on his only child so much that he could not bear to scold or beat him when he misbehaved.
He said it really hurt to see how badly he was beaten up, and that it's still painful just to think of him now.
He carries a photo of Izzul in his wallet, and there isn't a day when he doesn't think of him. The photograph is all that he's left with now, he said.
Mr Muhammad Farzid, who used to be a general worker at a mosque, visits his son's grave at the Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery every month.
He is no longer in touch with his ex-wife. Their marriage fell apart in 2007 and he moved out.
He last saw his son a week before the tragedy when the boy accompanied his mother to court.
Izzul was lively and cheerful and had called him 'daddy', he recalled.
Mr Muhammad Farzid said the day Izzul was born, on 14 Jan, 2005, was the happiest day of his life.
'He's my first child and his birth symbolised my next generation,' he said.
'That day, I put down my work and rushed to the hospital to witness his birth. I was so happy.'
Izzul was born two months' premature and had to be warded for three months.
Exactly three years later, he was back at the same hospital, praying for his little boy to pull through.
'He should have been celebrating his third birthday instead, cutting his birthday cake and surrounded by people who love him,' said Mr Muhammad Farzid, tears welling up.
'I only managed to celebrate two birthdays with him, and then he was gone.'
For causing grievous hurt, Firdaus could have been jailed seven years and caned.
For ill-treating a child, he could have been jailed four years and fined $4,000.
