Woman jailed 1 year and 1 week for ill-treating young nephews

A woman who ill-treated her two young nephews by tying them up in the kitchen was sentenced to a year and week's jail on Friday for ill-treating them.

The 48-year-old, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty last year to two charges of ill-treating the boys, aged seven and five, at her Teck Whye flat from July 1 to 3 in 2011.

She had also used a wooden back scratcher to cane the younger boy's back, calf and buttocks.On July 3, 2011 the younger boy was motionless and an hour later pronounced dead. He died from natural causes.

The court heard that she had been giving food to them and asked a male friend living in the flat to feed them while she was at work. She had been taking care of the two boys since March 17, 2011 after their parents had been arrested and remanded for investigation by the Central Narcotics Bureau.

District Judge Kessler Soh commended her for taking it upon herself to take care of the children and noted that it was not an easy task to manage the two young ones. Unable to control them and in deep frustration, she went overboard in disciplining the children which led to ill-treatment, he said.

The judge said tying up a child especially for extended periods of time and hitting him could hardly be justified or excused. What she did to her nephews was wrong and Judge Soh said he accepted that she was filled with regret and was not a cruel person.

The accused who worked in a coffeeshop could have been fined up to $4,000 or jailed for up to four years on each charge of ill-treatment.

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