A mother has accused the principal of a student care centre of beating her eight-year-old son on his buttocks with a wooden ruler, a punishment that led her to make a police report.

Ms Llva Chin, 34, an administrative assistant, told The Straits Times yesterday that her son had accidentally opened the door of a toilet while a girl was using it.

She cried, calling out for her parents.

Ms Chin said she was told that her son was punished to placate the girl's angry parents.

The centre, called Star Kidz Powerclub, is at Block 509, Bedok North Avenue 3, and is run by former Channel 8 actor Ryan Choo and two women teachers.

The bruises were spotted by the boy's father on Feb 3 after a swim, reported online portal Stomp.

In recounting the events yesterday, Ms Chin said her husband saw the "red marks" when their son was putting on dry clothes after taking a shower.

When she questioned the boy, he said he had been punished by a teacher for talking in class.

She contacted the school and on Feb 5, she met Mr Choo at the centre.

He told her that he had used a wooden ruler to smack the boy on his bottom and that he did it to placate the girl's irate parents.

Said Ms Chin: "As parents, we should be informed and not have to find the bruises on our child's body ourselves."

She also said her son was playing hide-and-seek with his friends and had opened the door, thinking one of his friends was hiding in the toilet.

Her son had been going to Star Kidz Powerclub on weekdays for the past three years while she and her husband are at work, she said.

Ms Chin has since moved her son to another student care centre in Bedok.

When contacted, Mr Choo confirmed he was the principal of the centre, which he had been running for more than 10 years.

He declined to discuss the incident, saying "it is not appropriate to make any comments as the police are investigating".

The police confirmed that a report on the incident was made on Feb 6 and investigations are ongoing.