Man charged with repeatedly abusing young girl by punching, kicking her

SINGAPORE: A 50-year-old man was on Monday (May 9) charged with repeatedly abusing a young girl in his care by punching and kicking her.

The man cannot be named as this could lead to identification of the victim.

He was given five charges of ill-treatment of a child, and a charge of voluntarily causing hurt to a 29-year-old woman.

On Sep 28, 2018, when the girl was six, he allegedly punched the side of her face once and caned her arms, legs, back and buttocks.

In 2021, when the girl was nine, he allegedly caned her face, back and arm.

On another occasion that year, he is also accused of punching and kicking her arm and back, and caning her hand.

On Feb 1, he allegedly punched the girl's head and body and kicked her multiple times at about 8am.

More than four hours later, he allegedly caned her back and head.

The man is also accused of punching the older woman in the head and hitting her back multiple times on Feb 1.

He was granted bail of S$15,000 and will return to court later this month.

Those convicted of ill-treatment of a child can be jailed for up to eight years, fined up to S$8,000 or both.

The penalty for voluntarily causing hurt is up to three years' jail, a fine of up to S$5,000 or both.