Domestic worker gets jail for punching non-verbal autistic child at least 23 times
The 29-year-old woman also recorded videos of the family’s three children naked in the toilet and sent them to her husband “to show him how mischievous the victims were”.
A 29-year-old domestic worker in Singapore received a three-year jail sentence for repeatedly abusing an autistic four-year-old boy in her care, including striking him 23 times. The woman, who cannot be named to protect the victims' identities, also filmed the family's three children, including the boy's seven-year-old sister and one-year-old brother, naked in the bathroom and sent the videos to her husband, according to court documents.
She kicked the boy twice on the head and used a handheld shower head to spray water directly into the one-year-old's face for 16 seconds, causing him distress. The abuse occurred shortly after she began working for the family in January. The judge emphasized that the boy's inability to communicate or request help made him particularly vulnerable.
The woman's actions, even in the context of her fatigue and frustration, were deemed "a chilling indifference" to the victims' pain and suffering. The judge noted that severe sentences would have been warranted if there were evidence of physical injuries, but acknowledged that the emotional and physical demands of caregiving should not justify abuse.
Written by urgent.news from CNA - Singapore's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
