A MARTIAL arts exponent was sentenced to 34 and a half years of prison and 12 strokes of the rotan for killing his five-year-old daughter and abusing her and her younger brother.
According to reports in Channel News Asia (CNA), the Singaporean who had trained in silat, taekwondo and aikido, would repeatedly punch, slap, kick and cane the children.
Reports said he treated them as “punching bags” for his frustration. The children reportedly endured two years of abuse and neglect, including being confined naked to the toilet for almost 10 months.
In August 2017, the girl died of a head injury after her father smacked her face up to 20 times in the toilet where the two children were kept all day.
She weighed just 13.2kg at the time of her death.
In passing the sentence, justice Aedit Abdullah said the 44-year-old man had subjected his children to “inhumane, disgusting abuse”, and that his punishment had to reflect the “abhorrence and disgust of the community”.
The accused cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the identity of the victim’s surviving brother.
The man was originally on trial for the capital charge of murder but admitted to the offences after a reduced charge of culpable homicide was put on the table by the prosecution.
CNA reports said the man pleaded guilty to six charges comprising one charge of culpable homicide, four charges of child abuse and one charge of disposing evidence.
Another 20 charges covering child abuse and lying to police officers were considered in sentencing.
The prosecution would also review the case against the stepmother, who was named as a co-accused in the charges of confining the children to the toilet.
The woman previously testified as a prosecution witness. – The Vibes, May 1, 2024
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