Woman admits to hurting son, who died from his injuries
TODAY File Photo
SINGAPORE — When her son was just two years old, Noraidah Mohd Yussof, 34, shoved him when he could not follow her instructions when she tried to teach him the alphabet.
She also twisted and pulled his hand when he scribbled on a sofa, landing him in hospital with fractures that she claimed had been sustained from a fall.
Two years later, when Mohammad Airyl Amirul Haziq Mohamed Ariff was four, Noraidah repeated her abuse; this time over his inability to recite the numbers 11 to 18 in Malay.
The repeated falls the toddler suffered from being shoved by his mother caused head injuries that led to his death a few days later.
On Monday (March 28), Noraidah pleaded guilty to two counts each of causing grievous hurt to and ill-treating her son. Another two charges of ill-treatment will be taken into consideration during sentencing.
Noraidah was originally charged with causing grievous hurt but her charge was upgraded to murder when her son died.
The charge was reduced to the original after “careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case”, said a spokesperson from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, in response to queries.
The court was told that in March 2012, Noraidah became irritated when she tried to teach her son, then two years old, the alphabet. When he refused to study, she pushed him again and stepped on his ribs.
When Airyl scribbled on the sofa instead of the paper she had given him, Noraidah twisted and pulled his hand.
The infant was taken to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) and was referred to a medical social worker and the Ministry of Family and Social Development for “suspected non-accidental injuries”. Noraidah lied that his injuries were sustained from a fall.
On Aug 1, 2014, Noraidah asked the boy to recite the numbers 11 to 18 in English and Malay at her Eunos flat. He failed at the Malay recitation and got a scolding.
After a nap, Noraidah got him to try again, to no avail.
Agitated, she pushed him, causing him to fall and hit his head on the floor.
He kept on trying, unsuccessfully, and Noraidah shoved him again and stepped on his knees repeatedly.
Later, she also choked him, even lifting him off the ground against a wall.
She released her grip only when he gasped for air but he was unresponsive when he fell to the ground.
Accompanied by her sister-in-law, Noraidah took the boy to a nearby clinic before he was sent to Changi General Hospital.
He remained in critical condition after he was transferred to KKH the following day but Airyl died three days later after he was taken off life support.
An autopsy revealed that he had died from a head injury. Multiple scars, lacerations, abrasions and bruising were found all over his head, neck, chest, back and limbs.
Noraidah will be sentenced after another hearing is held to resolve various psychiatrists’ opinions on her alleged Asperger’s syndrome mental condition.
For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, she can be jailed up to 10 years and be fined or caned. For the ill-treatment of her son, she can be fined up to S$4,000 or jailed up to four years or both.
