Ex-childcare teacher who abused child given 3 weeks' jail

SINGAPORE - A former childcare centre teacher who was caught on video ill-treating and manhandling a boy was jailed for three weeks on Thursday, Nov 27, The New Paper reported.

Siti Hadjah Mohamed Sin, 52, who was a part-time teacher at a My First Skool childcare centre at Block 192, Lorong 4, Toa Payoh, is said to have grabbed the two-year-old boy by his upper arms and heaved him backwards onto the floor twice.

The incident reportedly occurred at the centre last July.

The Straits Times reported that the boy suffered a fractured shin.

It was captured on the centre's security camera, and the video caused widespread outrage after it was posted online.

According to The New Paper, the court heard that Siti Hadijah, who was later sacked, had been in charge of 10 children. Most had already gathered for an activity but the boy continued to run around the classroom.

She then walked towards the boy and spoke to him momentarily, before she grabbed his left arm and pulled him to a corner of the classroom.

In mitigation, defence counsel Satwant Singh said that his client had been stressed and frustrated at the time, and added that the boy was hyperactive with a short attention span, The Straits Times said.

Siti Hadijah could have been fined up to $4,000 and jailed for up to four years.

seanyap@sph.com.sg