As a womanis jailed for child abuse, another puts her child in hospital with wounds so severe a stranger loses his temper

SHE heated the knife for a few minutes and then placed it on her son’s hand, burning him.

That was last year.

He was eight then.

This mother had done the same to the boy’s younger sister in 2007. She was seven then.

What did they do to deserve such horrific punishment?

The older one had sold his school stationery to a friend and the younger one had stolen tidbits.

The woman has since been dealt with. (See report below.)

But even as one case is settled, another has emerged.

On 7 May, The New Paper was alerted to a child who was then warded at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital covered with wounds.

The child had startlingly similar injuries to the first case in this report.

On one of the child’s arms, burn marks allegedly left by an angry mother with a heated knife could be seen.

What did the child do to deserve such horrific punishment?

The child failed a class test.

The injuries were so severe that a stranger was angered by the brutality shown to a young child.

When Mr Amuthan Ramaya, 43, saw the child’s injuries, he flipped.

He contacted The New Paper on May 7.

“I wanted the media to highlight this. Why is this child going through all this?” he said. “This is not the way to treat an innocent child, so when I saw this, I got very provoked. The child doesn’t deserve this,” he said, visibly angry.

Mr Amuthan’s only child, a Primary 6 boy, was hospitalised in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital for dengue and gastric two weeks ago.

It was there that he met the other child, who cannot be identified as legal action may be taken against the child’s parent by the authorities.

The New Paper understands that a hospital nurse had first alerted the police.
The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) is also investigating and has stepped in to protect the child.

But Mr Amuthan, who is unemployed, didn’t know that. He had no idea if action was being taken and wasn’t prepared to wait.

He said it made him mad when he first saw the child, just two beds away from his 12-year-old son’s bed.He took a special interest because of the visible injuries – the child’s body was covered with angry scars and the skin around the wounds had already started peeling.

There were also fingernail marks on the child’s cheek and neck.

Mr Amuthan said that he didn’t see anyone visit the child during the two days he was in the hospital with his son.

He said he stayed in the ward on both days and only returned home at night to sleep. Mr Amuthan asked the child about the injuries.

Vulnerable
The child told MrAmuthan that the mother had allegedly caused the injuries for failing a class test.

“As a parent, you can scold your children but how can you hurt them in this way?” said MrAmuthan, wholives with his son and wife, 53, a cashier, in a three-room flat in Circuit Road.

He doesn’t think he is interfering. “If people say I’m a kaypoh (busybody), then I am a kaypoh. In this case, I had to be a busybody because we are talking about a child who is vulnerable,” he said.

When The New Paper visited the hospital, the skinny, quiet child described the injuries as “painful”.

The New Paper understands that a teacher had taken the child to hospital and a nurse from the hospital reported the matter to the police.

The child’s principal declined to comment.

The police confirmed that they received a call two weeks ago informing them of a case of injuries involving a child.

“Investigations are ongoing,” said a police spokesman.

An MCYS spokesman said the hospital had referred the case to the ministry.

The case is now under the purview of Child Protection Service (CPS) and a Care and Protection Order has been obtained.

The spokesman said the ministry could not comment on specific details of the case as the Children and Young Persons Act applies.

But the CPS will assess case, “focusing on the safety and care needs of both the child and his family”, he said.

“In the course of investigation, the child may be placed in alternative safe care such as under a relative’s care or in a foster home.”

The spokesman said that adult members of the family will be counselled.

He added: “All of us play a key role in reporting child abuse and a police report should be made if the child is in imminent danger.”

Latest case:Mother jailed 10 months for hurting kids

THE seven-year-girl had stolen tidbits from a shop.

When her mother found out, she heated a kitchen knife with a lighter and pressed the hot knife on the girl’s right forearm, burning it.

That incident was in 2008.

In March last year, the woman did the same thing to her eight-year-old son after she found out that he had been selling his school stationery to his friend.

This time, she heated the knife over the stove at home and burnt the boy’s left forearm.

Yesterday, the 32-year-old woman was jailed 10 months for child abuse by a Community Court.

Three months after the boy was abused, the children’s 34-year-old father, who is divorced from their mother, found out about the incident.

On June 11 last year, the boy had contacted his father to say he missed him and asked that they meet.

When they met, the father noticed a scar on the lad’s left arm.

The next day, brother and sister met their father. This time, the father spotted a swelling on the girl’s head.

He then took the children to the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital for a medical examination. He made a police report against his ex-wife the next day.

The woman had since re-married, and is now four months pregnant. For hurting her children, she could have been fined up to $4,000, and jailed for up to four years on each charge.