Zaidah, 41, and her boyfriend, Zaini Jamari, 46 were both convicted of three charges of child abuse and one count each of causing grievous hurt to the former’s 2-year-old son in court on 23 June.
The couple had allegedly kicked and slapped 2-year-old Mohamad Daniel Mohamad Nasser almost daily for the last five weeks, which eventually led to his death.
The couple showed little remorse at the court hearing even after when showed photos of Daniel’s 41 injuries.
Zaidah, who is pregnant and has 5 other children admitted to 26 other charges of abusing him and Zaini, 18 other counts, without stating the reason of the abuse.
The two accused will reportedly be sentenced next month and the above mentioned charges will be considered by Principal District Judge Bala Reddy.
The prosecution is currently asking for at least nine years’ jail for each, with nine to 12 strokes of the cane for Zaini, and nine to 12 months’ jail in lieu of caning for Zaidah.
The couple had moved into a one-room HDB flat in Telok Blangah Crescent with Daniel and their one-year-old daughter last October. Daniel’s father was in jail when he was born and he and Zaidah had lost contact.
A 50-year-old friend of Zaidah, owner of the flat and her daughter was also living in the apartment with them.
Zaidah had conceived her 6th child in March last year and had reportedly stopped working around September.
The court heard that Zaini often joined in in the abuse between 18 Oct and 22 Nov in which Zaidah kicked and slapped Daniel every day.
The day before he died, Zaidah tried to feed Daniel breakfast. When he refused to eat, she slapped him in the face three times. The couple then slapped him repeatedly. When he fell, Zaidah stamped on his chest with her leg before she pulled him up by his arm.
Later that evening, when Daniel couldn’t stand during a punishment, Zaini force-fed him two spoonfuls of dried chilli. The accused then took him to the toilet, washed his mouth and made the boy stand in the living room.
Although the boy appeared faint moments later, the couple continued to torment him by slapping and kicking him in the chest and stomach which resulted Daniel’s head hitting the ground.
The couple then forced dried chilli down his throat which led to mucus coming out of his nose. Zaini then took the boy to the toilet and washed his face before ordering him to sleep.
Around 8am on 23 nov the next day, the couple could not wake Daniel and paramedics found no electrical activity in his heart.
Zaidah said that Daniel had a habit of pinching himself when the paramedics has asked about his bruises.
Even after the boy was pronounced dead in hospital, the couple reportedly lied that he had a fall in the toilet. They then went home to watch television.
The sentencing will be scheduled for 5 July.
If you know of an abuse case, please do not hesitate to call these hotlines:
Police: 999
SOS: 1800-221-4444
Source: The Straits Times