Mother admits throwing hot water on four children

Singapore: A 33-year-old single mother admitted in court on Monday (June 24) that Throwing hot water on her four children Because she suspected one of them had stolen her money.

The Singaporean woman pleaded guilty to one charge of cruelty to a child in her care, while three other charges relating to her other children will be considered at sentencing.

Her name cannot be revealed because of a confidentiality order protecting the identity of her children.

The court heard that when the offences took place in July 2022, the woman’s children were aged eight, nine, 10 and 11 years old.

On the morning of July 2, 2022, she asked her oldest child, an 11-year-old girl, to take 20 Singapore dollars (14.70 U.S. dollars) from her purse to buy bread for breakfast.

The girl told her mother that there was only 5 Singapore dollars in her wallet.

The woman was surprised because she remembered she had S$60 in her wallet the night before.

She suspected one of her children had taken the money, as she had done before, and instructed them to go find the cash.

Splashing water

When the woman saw this, she threatened to pour hot water on them if they couldn’t find the money.

While the children were searching for cash, the woman boiled water in the kitchen. She poured three-quarters of a cup of hot water into a mug and went to the bedroom where the children were.

She poured hot water on them and asked them to return the money.

The children continued to deny taking the money and their mother refilled the glasses with hot water and poured it over them again.

She repeated this action until each child had been splashed once. The children ran to the bedroom crying and apologizing because they were burned by the liquid.

When the children stopped searching to go to school, the woman discovered that her nine-year-old son had burns on his body.

She checked on the other children and found they had similar injuries.

She started crying and rubbed medicated oil on the wound and called her sister to come over.

SCDF personnel then called an ambulance.

Court documents describe in detail the injuries of only one of the children, identified as 10-year-old, the oldest in the family.

The girl suffered superficial partial-thickness burns over 10 percent of her body, including her left arm, abdomen and thigh.

She underwent treatment and wound dressing requiring general anesthesia, and had to undergo continuous wound inspection and dressing changes.

The girl was last examined by the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in October 2022.

She has a soft scar on her left arm measuring about 2cm x 1cm which is likely to be permanent.

Pending Probation Report

The prosecution did not object to the suitability report on probation submitted by the defense.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ding Shumin pointed out that despite the vulnerability of the victim and the seriousness of the crime, the defendant had also been working hard to change his situation.

Ms. Tian said any verdict would have an impact on her family.

The convict’s lawyer, from the public defender’s office, said his client overcame a poor family background, abuse from her ex-husband and persistent depression to raise four children on her own.

“Despite being just a waitress with a Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) education, she overcame all odds to feed her children,” the lawyer said.

He said the woman worked hard and sought help from social agencies to improve her skills and take care of her children.

The lawyer said that while dealing with financial issues and a legal battle with her ex-husband, the woman still “found time to love and care for” her children.

He added that this was the first time something like this had happened and the woman had since felt extremely guilty and depressed and had been diagnosed with major depression.

The lawyer said that the children love their mother and hope to be reunited with her, and relevant social organizations are also working hard to help them reunite.

He said the current charges have resulted in the children being separated from their mother and placed with three different families.

The attorney said Child Protective Services said it would “facilitate the woman’s reintegration into society” if she were given probation and pushed for probation because it was in the best interests of the children.

District Judge Tan Jen Tse requested a report to assess whether the woman was suitable for probation.

However, he stressed that even if they were recommendations, he was not obliged to follow them when sentencing.

He told the woman that even if the prosecution and defense agreed that probation was the right sentence, he might not agree.

She nodded.

“My advice to you is to keep working hard, keep improving and take good care of your children,” the judge said.

Sentencing was deferred until August.