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A 38-year-old Singaporean man has been sentenced to eight months’ jail after he force-fed his four-year-old son the tip of a chilli for lying after he soiled himself. Following this “disciplinary action”, the boy fell unconscious and died.
An autopsy report revealed that the child died of an acute airway obstruction by a foreign object. The child choked to death despite his father carrying him to a nearby clinic as the tip of the chilli was found blocking his air passage.
Jailed for One Count of a Rash Act Causing Death
On Thursday, the victim’s father, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim and his young siblings, pleaded guilty to killing his son and was jailed for one count of a rash act causing death.
The court heard that the father-of-four lived in his Sengkang flat with his wife and children, including the victim.
On Aug 2, 2022, the man noticed that the victim had reeked of faeces. The boy was undergoing toilet training at the time and was supposed to notify his parents if he needed to relieve himself.
But when the child denied soiling himself, his father decided to discipline him by forcing the tip of a chili into the boy’s mouth. Following this, the child started running around while gesturing at his throat. He vomited and collapsed soon after.
Such Method Should be Discouraged
The father then picked up the child and rushed to a nearby clinic, but the doctor found that the child had no pulse and was not breathing. Later, an ambulance rushed the victim to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Defence lawyer Muhammad Taufiq Suraidi had pleaded for his client to be given seven months’ jail and stressed that the man is a loving father to his children. He also added that his client’s “remorse and guilt is absolute”, and he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder after the tragedy.
The lawyer told the court that the victim’s father had also been found to have suicidal ideation.
Before sentencing, senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun said that this was a sad case that could be prevented and noted that such a method of discipline should be discouraged.
For the unversed, an offender, causing a death by performing a rash act, can be jailed for up to five years and fined.
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