SINGAPORE – A man flew into a rage when his two-year-old son refused to stop crying and repeatedly slapped the toddler’s face on April 20, 2020.

The child was later found with injuries, including abrasions on his left cheek and bruises on his right forearm.

The next day, the man became angry with his seven-year-old son for not answering his questions and used an aluminium hanger to strike the boy around 20 times.

A medical report dated July 21, 2020, stated that the boy had bruises on his face, back, chest and limbs.

On Feb 27, the 54-year-old man, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the boys’ identities, pleaded guilty to one count of ill-treating his older son.

A similar charge involving the toddler will be considered during sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Stacey Anne Fernandez said that the man was in his bedroom at around 9am on April 20, 2020, when he heard the toddler crying in the living room.

He went towards the child and picked him up, but the latter still continued to cry.

Feeling angry, the man repeatedly slapped the child’s face. His wife used her mobile phone to record the incident.

The next day, the man was in his bedroom when he heard his seven-year-old son making noise in the living room.

The man later confronted the boy over the latter’s schoolwork involving some multiple-choice questions.

He slapped the boy’s face once when the latter did not answer his questions. The man grew angrier when the child played with some tins of canned food and slapped the boy one more time.

The DPP said: “(The man) took (an aluminium) hanger which was next to the victim... The accused used (it) to hit the victim all over his body, including his face, chest, back, arms and thighs. The accused hit the victim all over his body about 20 times.”

The man stopped hitting his son after the boy burst into tears.

On April 23, 2020, his wife took both boys to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and its staff alerted the police.

The case has been adjourned to April 1.