Man charged with abusing his son and daughter with belt, heated spoon and physical force
Photo illustration of child abuse. (Photo: CNA/Marcus Mark Ramos)
SINGAPORE: A 39-year-old man was charged in court on Friday (Jan 20) with abusing his children, including placing a heated spoon on his seven-year-old son's buttock.
The man, who cannot be named due to gag orders prohibiting his identification and the victims' identification, was handed three charges under the Children and Young Persons Act.
He is accused of ill-treating his son, who was seven then, by placing a heated spoon at his buttock area on an unknown date in 2016. This caused the boy unnecessary pain and injury, the charge sheet stated.
In June 2022, the man allegedly ill-treated his 14-year-old daughter by kicking her shoulder area. This also caused the teen unnecessary physical pain and injury, the charge sheet read.
The man is also accused of hitting his son with a belt, striking him around his right arm. This allegedly occurred in July 2022, when the boy was 13.
The three acts allegedly took place at the same flat.
The man was offered bail of S$15,000 and will return to court next month.
This is the latest in a series of alleged child abuse cases to hit the news.
A 29-year-old woman was charged earlier this month with causing grievous hurt to a two-month-old baby by dropping her forcefully into a cot.Â
A 31-year-old man was charged along with her for slapping the same baby.
In December, a 32-year-old man returned to court to face a charge of ill-treating an 11-year-old girl by slapping her face and hitting her arms and legs with a belt, leaving injuries on her body.
A 34-year-old woman faces a charge of allowing the abuse.
According to the most recent available data from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), there was a spike in the number of child abuse cases investigated in 2021.
MSF's Child Protective Service investigated 2,141 cases of abuse in 2021, 63 per cent more than the 1,313 cases in 2020. The figure was 1,088 in 2019.
Of the 2,141, cases in 2021, 788 were physical abuse, 443 were sexual abuse and 910 were cases of neglect.
Physical abuse cases investigated also increased, from 660 in 2019 to 677 in 2020 and 788 in 2021.
The statistics for 2022 are yet to be released.
