31 child abuse charges for man who allegedly dunked baby’s head in pail of water, hung him by a hanger
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The man is also accused of choking the baby multiple times and trying to suffocate him by stepping on his face with a foot for about 10 seconds.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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SINGAPORE – A man has been charged with 31 counts of child abuse after he allegedly ill-treated a baby boy, including pushing his head into a pail of water for around six seconds and forcing a milk bottle filled with water into his mouth.
The 31-year-old Singaporean, who cannot be named to protect the child’s identity, is also accused of choking the baby multiple times and hanging him on a hanger by the back of his singlet inside a cupboard and closing the door.
The child was between nine and 11 months old at the time. Court documents did not disclose how the pair are related to each other.
The man was charged on Sept 19 after he allegedly committed the offences between July and September 2024.
He is accused of committing most of his offences in a Clementi HDB flat and allegedly started abusing the baby on July 17, 2024. Shortly after noon that day, the man allegedly hit the baby’s face and body multiple times with a bolster.
He is accused of slapping the baby’s face and choking him by squeezing his neck for about seven seconds at around 6pm.
Court documents stated that at around 6.40pm, the man allegedly pushed the baby’s head while he was sitting on a bed, causing him to slam down onto it with “great force”.
He is also accused of pulling the baby’s hair, forcefully grabbing his cheeks, pushing him down onto a mattress and stepping on the child’s face with his foot at around 8.40pm.
The man is said to have continued abusing the boy on multiple occasions after that.
Besides the alleged acts involving the pail, hanger and milk bottle, the man is also accused of other offences including trying to suffocate the baby by pressing a pillow onto his face for about 10 seconds, throwing him over a distance of at least 2m onto a mattress as well as holding him up in the air by his neck for about 25 seconds and trying to suffocate him by stepping on his face with a foot for about 10 seconds.
The man allegedly ill-treated the boy for the last time on Sept 16, 2024.
He was at the void deck of a Clementi HDB block of flats at around 1.40pm that day when he allegedly grabbed the baby’s hair, twisted his arms, punched his face – causing him to fall over – and choked him for around 20 seconds.
The man is also accused of punching the baby’s buttocks and legs, shaking his head forcefully, slapping his face multiple times, and grabbing the back of his neck and dragging him along a table.
The Straits Times understands that the baby survived the alleged acts of abuse.
The accused is represented by lawyer Gino Hardial Singh, and his pre-trial conference will take place on Sept 29.
For each count of child abuse, an offender can be jailed for up to eight years and fined up to $8,000.
