Woman who kicked, slapped daughters admits to abuse

A housewife who claimed she was disciplining her two daughters, aged six and 10, slapped, kicked, and even dragged one of them by the hair when she was left alone with them.

Her abusive behaviour came to light when her husband, 37, discovered that the older girl's front teeth were broken.

He took her to KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) where a police report was made.

But the 38-year-old mother downplayed the extent of the attacks to investigating officers and also told her elder daughter to lie to a child protection officer.

Yesterday, she appeared in court via video-link with a blank expression and admitted to seven counts of abusing her daughters.

The woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children, also has a son whose age was not stated in court documents.

Four other similar charges will be taken into consideration for her sentencing.

A psychiatric report found that the woman was not suffering from any mental illness at the time of the offences.

The court heard that in December 2018, her husband installed a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera in the living room of their home for occasions when the children were left alone.

On June 18, 2019, he discovered that his elder daughter's front teeth were broken. She told him that her mother had slapped and kicked her, causing her mouth to bleed and her front teeth to break.

He took her to KKH without confronting his wife.

The father later checked the CCTV footage and found that his wife had assaulted both daughters on other occasions.

Several clips of CCTV footage played in court showed the woman assaulting the girls by slapping, pinching and kicking them. She was also seen pulling the older girl's ears and dragging her into a bedroom by her hair.

The older daughter revealed during investigations that the abuse started when she was in Kindergarten 2 but it worsened in 2018.

She did not tell her father because she was afraid of more beatings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Ying Min told the court.

The psychiatric report also found that the risk of the woman using harsh physical punishment on children in future remains high.

The woman's mitigation and sentencing are scheduled for Sept 29.

For each charge of abusing her children, she can be fined up to $4,000, jailed up to four years, or both.