Woman jailed for abusing nephews

SINGAPORE: A dishwasher, who tied up her two nephews in her kitchen for two days as punishment for misbehaving, has been sentenced to one year and one week’s jail.

After two days of being tied up, the younger of the nephews was found motionless and pronounced dead shortly after.

The offences happened between July 1 and July 3 2011.

The court heard that the woman tied the hands of both boys, who were seven and five years old, to a metal beam above the kitchen sink and their legs to a PVC pipe under the sink.

The short and stout woman also caned the younger boy on his buttocks and calf with a wooden back scratcher.

The 48—year—old woman, who cannot be named due to a court’s order, was found guilty of three counts of child abuse.

Another similar count was also taken into consideration.

In sentencing, District Judge Kessler Soh said the woman was deeply frustrated and went overboard on her discipline, which led to ill—treatment.

But he noted that she was "not a cruel person who derived morbid pleasure from the pain of her nephews."

The court also heard that the boy’s death was due to a natural medical cause as he had a coronary artery disease.

District Judge Soh however said that "tying up a child for extended periods of time could be hardly justified or excused."

Also noting the young ages of the victims and their vulnerability, he said her offences warranted punishment.

The woman, who is a divorced mother of two, became the caretaker of both boys, after their parents went to jail.

Earlier in mitigation, the court heard that she did not have an easy time looking after the boys.

The woman, who is represented by Mr Subhas Anandan and Mr Sunil Sudheesan, was said earlier to have "much difficulty managing the victims" which led to her "desperation to resort to tying them up."

The woman who turned up in court with blonde streaks in her hair, remained solemn while sentenced.

She was also granted a three—day deferment in her sentence, after a request to attend her grandchild’s birthday celebration on January 5.

— CNA/xq