10-year-old child abused by adult relatives
It sickens me each time I hear about a report of child abuse, whether in the hands of a maid, a relative or even a parent. Today, the local media reported yet another heinous abuse on a 10-year old boy in the hands of his grandaunt and her three daughters.
Child abused by family
Channel News Asia reported the 10-year old boy had HOT cooking oil splashed on him by his grandaunt, and suffered permanent disfigurement to his head and face. He also suffered physical abuses by her 3 daughters.
The Straits Times also informed us that the three younger women – together with their 45-year-old father who is divorced – are accused of splashing hot water on the boy’s body at their home in Hougang in 2009. They had also allegedly snipped his fingers with a pair of scissors and pressed a heated spatula on his body in February this year.
The 44-year-old woman and her three daughters, aged 14, 20 and 24, were charged on Friday for child abuse. They face between one and 15 charges of voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
All four have been remanded for psychiatric examination and their cases will be mentioned again on July 15.
In his 2007 speech, ‘Creating a Singapore fit for children’, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said “Whilst the number (of child abuse cases) is small relative to the entire cohort of children in Singapore, we have a duty of care towards these children. Every case is a future robbed…”
In the last 6 months alone, we have reported quite a few incidents concerning child abuse and neglect.
- A 3-year-old boy who died after he was badly battered by his friend’s mother,
- A six-year-old who fell to his death from his fifth-storey home after being left alone for the first time,
- Another 9-year-old who also fell from his flat’s window but miraculously survived without a scratch;
- A newborn baby boy was found buried alive in Eunos.
- a Singaporean Ministry of Education (MOE) scholar charged with child pornography
That’s one too many for me. I can’t imagine what life must be like for the poor young boy to suffer such an awful fate. If you know of a child who is being abused, please call the Singapore Child Protection Services Hotline (MCYS) – 1800-258 6378 or Tinkle Friend – 1800 – 2744788.
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