How Could You?Hall of Shame-Singapore-Umaisyah case-Child Death

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Singapore, Umaisyah, 2, ” was killed and burnt in a pot by her father was sentenced to 14 years’ jail on Wednesday (7 February) for child abuse and perverting justice.

The 35-year-old woman also ill-treated four of her children aged between two and 10, by leaving them in the flat without adequate food and water and without adult supervision. She fed chilli padi to her eldest son and the now-deceased girl as punishment, hitting them with a belt and hanger, and slapping them.

She also lied to a Child Protection Service (CPS) officer that she had six children when she had seven, deliberately omitting the girl who was killed.

The woman cannot be named due to gag orders protecting her surviving children. She has been remanded since September 2019 and was initially charged with murder along with her husband, but the charge was later withdrawn.

Her husband was sentenced to 21-and-a-half years’ jail and 18 strokes of the cane for causing his daughter’s death in September last year. The judge partially lifted the gag order, naming the victim’s first name Umaisyah so she could be remembered by her name.

Hid body for over five years

Umaisyah was placed in foster care at three to four months of age before being returned to her parents almost two years later. She was abused by her parents until March 2014, when the mother slapped her cheeks as she had been playing with faeces after soiling her diaper.

Umaisyah’s father, who had taken drugs, forcefully slapped her and caused a traumatic brain injury leading to a concussive brain seizure. He tried to resuscitate her but she could not be saved.

The parents, worried about being arrested, decided to burn Umaisyah’s body in a metal pot, placed the pot in a cardboard box and covered it in cling wrap before stashing it under the kitchen stove in their flat. The pot stayed there for more than five years while the couple lied to government officials to prevent detection of Umaisyah’s death.

Umaisyah’s remains were discovered when her uncle opened the pot when Umaisyah’s mother was in jail. He showed the contents of the pot to his sister’s friends and they reported it to the police. The child’s body was burnt beyond recognition and reduced to charred remains, small bones and a loose tooth.

Lower jail term rejected by district judge

Deputy Public Prosecutor Norine Tan and her team asked for 14 to 14-and-a-half years’ jail for the offender. Calling this the most serious case of its kind to come before the courts, she said the offences were “entirely motivated out of self-interest” as the parents were afraid of being exposed.

Spot checks by different agencies found that the accused had “irresponsibly and wilfully” neglected her children. On one occasion, Child Protection Service officers found the children without water for almost a day, surviving only on sausages.

Lawyers Pramnath Vijayakumar and Sadhana Rai from Pro Bono SG asked for a lower jail term, pointing to the woman’s history of abuse.

She had told an Institute of Mental Health doctor that her stepfather had tried to molest her since she was 13, and she ran away from home at the age of 15 because of the molestation. She claimed her stepfather had attempted to rape her and she told her mother about it, but her mother did not believe her.

District Judge Toh Han Li pointed out that just because an offender is abused, it does not justify abuse of her children.”

Girl killed and burnt in a pot: Mother sentenced to 14 years’ jail for child abuse, perverting justice
[Singapore Yahoo 2/7/24 by Chia Han Keong]

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