By Vivien Chan

HE hugged his wife, who was seated in the dock, and pressed his face against hers.

When a police officer tried to pull him away and get him to return to his seat in the court's public gallery, the man was reluctant to let go.

When he finally did, his face, contorted with pain and sadness, was red.

His wife had just been handed a nine-month jail term for abetting an offence he committed nearly two years ago.

On 15 Sep 2007, he gave his 10-year-old stepson about 100 strokes using two rattan canes tied together. The boy's injuries were so serious that he had to be hospitalised for eight days.

Last November, the stepfather, now 40, was jailed nine months for child abuse and ordered to undergo counselling in prison. He was released in May this year.

He and his wife, also 40, cannot be identified under the law as the child is a minor.

Though his wife did not cane their son, she did not get off the hook.

She was the one who handed the cane to her husband and instructed him to beat the boy, who had lied to his school teacher that he was sick to avoid taking a spelling test.

His parents had given him three days to admit his wrongdoing, but when he refused, they decided he had to be punished.

When the boy, who was in Primary 4 then, pleaded with the mother to save him, she told him she could not help him and that he had to accept the punishment.

The caning, which lasted more than two hours, was so harsh the boy soiled his shorts during the ordeal.

The police were alerted by a neighbour who heard the boy's loud cries. A medical check showed that the boy suffered multiple bruises and abrasions to his buttocks, arms and back.

In an earlier interview with The New Paper, his mother said her husband had intended it to be the last time he used the cane to discipline her son.

The court heard that the boy was a problem child. He threw his homework down the rubbish chute at home, flushed his meals down the toilet and feigned illness to play truant.

After his hospital stay, he was placed in a welfare home for abused and neglected children.

His mother's two older sisters, who took leave to attend court yesterday morning, told The New Paper that the boy has since returned home and is 'very worried' about what will happen to his mother.

Loving couple

In court, the couple appeared loving, holding hands ahead of her turn before the judge. When she entered the dock, her husband clutched her handbag tightly.

In mitigation, the woman's lawyer, Mr Jeffrey Ong, told the court that at the time of the incident, she had received frequent complaints from her son's teachers. Despite reprimands, the boy was recalcitrant.

Mr Ong said she admitted that she 'did not do enough to protect her son' and 'failed in her duty as his mother'.

The couple have since attended pre-teen parenting and counselling sessions.

Mr Ong said: 'She is deeply remorseful that her actions have resulted in such hurt to her son.'

He also pointed out that the 'extent of the punishment was left solely to the husband as head of the family' and there was no 'wanton desire to afflict' pain on the child.

Despite what happened, the mother-son relationship remains 'extremely strong', the lawyer added. Thrice, the boy ran away from the welfare home to be back with his mother. 'She's now vigilant in looking out for her son,' he said.

Urging the court to take into consideration the couple's other young children, he said that after the stepfather returned home in May, the family has been going through a period of 'healing and restoration'. It would not be good for the children to have their mother taken away from them now, Mr Ong argued.

'The caning was a result of her misplaced belief that it was in the best interests of the child', he added.

But Assistant Public Prosecutor Nicholas Ngoh said the caning was 'socially unacceptable and abusive' and a 'tragic case in terms of family welfare'.

He added that it is premature to conclude that there would not be any psychological effects on the boy in future.

'Every single stroke of the cane is hurt inflicted on the victim,' he said.

Community Court Judge Ng Peng Hong said the caning was indeed traumatic for the boy.

'The act done by your husband was horrific and cruel, yet you stood by and did nothing,' he told the woman.

As he read out the jail sentence, her sisters let out a gasp. Her husband bowed his head and closed his eyes, but soon looked up to exchange glances with his wife.

She then took off her gold wedding band and waved him over. Taking the ring, he bent to embrace her.

Before she was led away in handcuffs, she whispered into the ears of her husband and sisters. All of them were crying.

As a female police officer led her away, her husband looked longingly after her.

Voice shaking, he said: 'I'll wait for you. Don't worry, nothing will happen.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.