Drug abuser gets jail, caning for ill-treating his kids

Wanting to teach his three children a lesson for playing with fire, a man heated a metal fork and pressed it to each of their arms.

They were then aged 10, seven and six years old.

In another incident, he slammed his eldest child's head to the ground and chipped her front teeth.

But now, his wife and children will not have to live in fear as he was jailed a total of seven years and ordered to be given three strokes of the cane yesterday for ill-treating the children as well as taking methamphetamine.

The 42-year-old, who cannot be named, admitted to six of eight charges.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Si En said some time in 2010, the accused came home and found pieces of paper with burn marks inside the kitchen toilet.

His three children, a girl and two boys, had been burning cardboard with a lighter.

He called them into the living room, heated a metal fork with the lighter and pressed it first to his daughter's right hand, then to the forearm of each of his sons.

Some time in March 2013, he asked his daughter, then 13, to throw out some garbage but she re-assigned the task to her younger brother. Her father punished her by grabbing her head and slamming it on the floor.

The accused's wife, 43, reported this to the police about two months later as she intended to apply for a personal protection order for herself and her children.

"She stated that the accused has anger issues and she and her children live in fear of him,'' said DPP Tan.

The offences came to light last September when the girl's teacher asked about the injuries on her.

All three children were then taken to KK Women's and Children's Hospital for medical attention.

Their father was arrested at home on Oct 14 last year for having and taking Ice, the street name for methamphetamine.

Pleading for a light sentence, the accused, who was unrepresented, said he had lost almost everything and wants to live with his family again. His wife was in court.

elena@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 28, 2015.
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