Azlin Arujunah and Ridzuan Mega Rahman, both 27, allegedly subjected their five-year-old boy to a waking nightmare of repeated torture and abuse
A couple who allegedly killed their five-year-old boy by pouring boiling water over him three years ago began their trial on Tuesday at Singapore's High Court.
Azlin Arujunah and Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman, both 27, were in the dock today facing charges of murder, which dictates a mandatory death penalty, or life imprisonment with caning.
Prosecutors said Azlin, the boy's mother, and Ridzuan, his father, caged the five-year-old in a cat box and tortured him with heated spoons and pliers for months before he died.
His death was caused by blows to the head and a deluge of 198F water poured over his back and calves.
In court, the prosecution's first witness, Associate Professor Loh Tsee Foong, recounted the injuries the boy presented at the hospital.
Among the list of horrors were second to third degree burns, which covered 75 per cent of the boy's body, acute kidney injuries, dehydration, a broken nose, cuts on his face and isolated speech delay.
The child, who is to remain anonymous due to a court order, died just a day after he was admitted to hospital.
Singapore's legal system maintains a mandatory death penalty for a number of offences, including murder.
If found guilty, Azlin and Ridzuan could be executed at the gallows in Changi prison.
A foster family took him in shortly after his birth in 2011 but he later returned to his biological parents in 2015.
It's reported that the abuse began just one year later when the parents started to 'psychologically torment the deceased in various ways', according to Deputy Public Prosecutors Tan Wen Hsien, Daphne Lim and Li Yihong.
The prosecutors delved further into the alleged abuse, saying the parents would hit the child with their fists or a broom for even the slightest wrongdoing.
They allege that in August 2016, the boy knocked over a biscuit tin and Azlin beat him so hard that his stomach was covered in marks.
He also began to hobble due to a misaligned kneecap.
The boy's father placed a scorching metal spoon on his palm when the child 'stole' milk powder to eat, prosecutors said.
Azlin and Ridzuan scalded the boy on at least four previous occasions before his death.
On one occasion, the boy yelled 'are you crazy or what?,' which angered the parents into dousing him with more steaming liquid.
On the day of his murder, October 22 2016, the boy was confined to a cat cage.
His mother wanted to bathe him but the child refused. The father was called to discipline him and he poured a flood of hot water over his calf and back.
The boy then toppled forward and stopped moving.
Rather than immediately seeking medical attention, they waited six hours to take the boy to hospital.
After the hospital informed the police, the parents were arrested over the following days.
Police examine the mental health of the parent while in custody but found no evidence to suggest they were of unsound mind during the murder.
Source: Mail Online, Ryan Fahey, November 13, 2019
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