Siblings of abused girl, whose remains were found in a pot, are in alternative care: MSF

SINGAPORE – The siblings of a two-year-old girl who was abused to death, and whose parents burned her body in a pot to hide their crime, have been placed in alternative care by the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) Child Protective Service.

Alternative care means the children may be placed in the care of family or friends, in foster care or in a children’s home.

The Child Protective Service has also been giving the girl’s siblings support, a spokesman for MSF told The Straits Times.

The spokesman said the ministry was unable to provide more information about the case, as court proceedings against the girl’s mother are still ongoing.

The couple are reported to have five other children besides the girl, Umaisyah.

On Sept 19,

her father was sentenced to a total of 21½ years’ jail and 18 strokes of the cane

after pleading guilty to a charge of culpable homicide for causing her death by forcefully slapping her multiple times and failing to provide her medical aid.

The 35-year-old man also pleaded guilty to three other charges. These involved ill-treating his six-year-old stepson, rioting and consumption of the drug methamphetamine.

High Court Justice Aedit Abdullah, who lifted the gag order on Umaisyah’s name, said: “It is important to my mind that we all remember her by her name.”

The judge noted that the girl had been robbed of any opportunity of growing up, developing her own identity and leading a fulfilling life. 

The couple had four children from their union, including Umaisyah. The mother, 34, also has two children from a previous marriage.

Umaisyah was placed in foster care when she was about three or four months old as her father had been detained in a drug rehabilitation centre, while her mother was assessed to be unable to take care of her.

She was returned to the couple about two years later, but the father abused her until she died. The man abused at least two of the other children as well.

In March 2014, the couple had been upset with Umaisyah for playing with her faeces after soiling her diaper. When the girl cried, her mother slapped her on the cheek.

Her father, who had abused drugs that morning, slapped the girl on the face two to three times. 

Prosecutors said the father’s assaults had caused Umaisyah significant traumatic brain injury, which led to the girl’s death.

To cover up their crime, the couple burned Umaisyah’s body in a metal pot and hid the pot in a sealed box under a stove in their rental flat.

Over the years, they spun various lies to hide her death, including to a Ministry of Education officer who had contacted them to find out why the girl was not registered for Primary 1.

The crime was uncovered only when Umaisyah’s uncle found the pot and showed it to his friends, who reported it to the police.

In September 2019, the couple were charged with murder.

In March 2021, the mother was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for her murder charge. This means she can still be prosecuted for the offence later, depending on the evidence that emerges.

She faces 12 other charges, including over ill-treating another four of her children. These charges are pending in the State Courts. 

In response to media queries about the girl’s death and the child protection system, the MSF said in 2019 that it was “reviewing how the network of agencies and community organisations can be further strengthened”.

The ministry added, without elaborating, that there were interactions between Umaisyah’s family and various agencies and community groups over the years.