Housemates of abusive SG couple told their story & darker secrets are revealed


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People all over Singapore are enraged by the story of how poor little Daniel was treated by his caregivers. 2-year-old toddler, Mohamad Daniel Mohamad Nasser was abused for 25 days over a 35-day period before he succumbed to his injuries and died.

With his passing on 23rd Nov 2015, his caregivers were each convicted of three charges of child abuse and one each of causing grievous hurt on 23rd June. It was later revealed that the apartment they stayed in include 2 other people, Ms Puspawati and her niece.

Many were questioning why they didn’t help to stop the abusers from hurting Daniel since they would have known. Here’s their side of the story and another darker secret of child abuse in the same block they stayed in.

The housemates of abusive couple
Ms Puspawati Abdul Razat, 51, and her niece were the only people who lived with the abusers and kids. Her niece was rarely home so usually she would be home alone with the couple and children.

How they met
Ms Puspawati first met Daniel’s mother, Zaidah 20 years ago through a friend. They weren’t that close until two years ago when she reconnected with each other.

Zaidah was working as a cleaner in an industrial building in Ubi Road and was staying in a cramped storeroom that could barely fit her. Ms Puspawati recounted that there was nowhere to even cook. Ms Puspawati took pity on her since she was also pregnant with Daniel and offered to let Zaidah live with her in the flat.

Her story
Ms Puspawati is wheelchair-bound after suffering from a stroke 4 years ago. She regarded Daniel as her grandson and he would call her “nenek” (grandmother in Malay). She told the media that she had tried to help protect Daniel from the savagery, but she was afraid at times. Due to her immobility, she couldn’t call for help sooner as she couldn’t get up or go to a private place to call the police.

She mentioned that she even fell while trying to protect Daniel once. We can imagine how much time and effort it would take for an immobile person to resist against violence. The 51-year-old said she would plead for the couple to stop hitting poor Daniel whenever she saw them abusing him but her cries would fall on deaf ears.

She had warned them he would die if they continued, and her niece had also begged for the torture to stop and even volunteered to take him out to play. However, they would be told to mind their own business. Ms Puspawati had to fight to call for the ambulance when Daniel was unconscious since his mother was reluctant to call for help.

The secret
There lies another little-known secret in Block 19, Telok Blangah Crescent, the block which Ms Puspawati, her niece and the family lived in. Daniel was not the first child to be repeatedly abused. Just 3 years ago, a 4-year-old girl was abused over a month. She had defecated on a mattress, and Fiona (not her real name) was physically abused by her mother’s boyfriend.

Mohammad Rudy Madon had grabbed some of the faeces and smeared it all over Fiona’s face, which caused her to even eat some of her own waste. He had no plans to stop even when her mother intervened, and continued to punch and step on her thigh.

These really sick abusers would be sentenced, but after serving their sentence, given a second chance to start afresh. But both little Daniel and Fiona won’t have that chance at all.

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com