A WOMAN was jailed for 10 months by a Community Court on
Wednesday for using a heated knife to burn the arms of her two
young children on separate occasions.
The 32-year-old woman, who cannot be named to protect the
children's identities, admitted to ill-treating her then
seven-year-old daughter in 2008 after she caught her stealing
tidbits from a shop.
She also admitted burning the left forearm of her eight-year-old
son in March last year.
The court heard that the boy had been selling his school
stationery to his friend for money since January last year. When
the accused found out two months later, she heated a kitchen knife
over the stove for a few minutes at home, and pressed the hot knife
onto his left hand, burning his forearm.
A divorcee, the woman had custody of her two children then.
The offences came to light when her ex-husband noticed a
swelling on his daughter's left temple on June 12 last year. He
took her to KK Women's and Children's Hospital for medical
examination and made the report the next day.
The accused, who has since re-married and is now four months
pregnant, could have been fined up to $4,000 and/or jailed for up
to four years on each charge.
-- ST
