A Singapore man, who allegedly caused his four-year-old son’s death by shoving chilli into his mouth nearly two years ago, was sentenced to eight months in jail.
The 38-year-old man forced the tip of a chilli into the little boy’s mouth at a time when the latter was undergoing toilet training, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported. The incident took place in August 2022 when he was with his son at home in Singapore. The boy had passed stool. When the father got the smell of poop and asked him if he had relived himself, the boy denied it.
The man decided to discipline his son by making him eat a chilli. He then sat on a chair and allegedly forced the tip of a chilli into the boy’s mouth.
The four-year-old collapsed shortly after he ran around the room gesturing at his throat, according to the CNA report.
When the boy’s condition did not improve even after his mother tried to resuscitate him, she tried calling for an ambulance. Eventually, the father carried him in his arms and rushed him to a nearby family clinic. By then, the child had reportedly lost his pulse and breathing. He was taken then to a hospital where he was declared dead.
The autopsy found that the piece of chilli was stuck in the boy’s airway. The cause of death was “acute airway obstruction by foreign body”, as per the autopsy report, CNA reported.
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The boy’s parents have three other children.
“It could have been prevented if you did not adopt such a method to discipline your child,” the CNA report quoted the judge as saying.
“This method of disciplining a vulnerable victim, or any such method … should be discouraged … at all costs.”
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