Mother Jailed for Swinging Kettle with Boiling Water at Daughter Who Slept Over in Friend’s House

Last Updated on 2023-05-05 , 11:05 am

If there’s one thing all parents will tell you, it’s that parenting teenagers is never an easy feat.

Of course, that doesn’t excuse any form of mistreatment or abuse

Recently, a 42-year-old woman shocked parents and non-parents alike when it was revealed that she scalded her 15-year-old daughter with boiling water from a kettle, resulting in first- and second-degree burns on the teenager’s body.

Why, you might ask?

Because she was displeased at how her daughter slept over at her friend’s house.

The woman, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her daughter’s identity, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing hurt by performing a rash act yesterday (Wednesday).

She was then sentenced to three weeks’ imprisonment.

However, she apparently intends to appeal against the sentence.

Anger Arose from Daughter’s Sleepover

In court, it was mentioned that the mother’s anger towards her daughter was triggered after the latter spent the night at a friend’s house on 22 December 2021.

This was because her mother had opposed the idea of her having a sleepover at her friend’s house.

According to Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kathy Chu, the victim reached home at around 7 pm the next day (23 December) and proceeded to lock herself in her bedroom.

However, her mother started to throw shoes at her and scold her after opening the victim’s bedroom window, which was facing the corridor.

Despite this, the victim did not respond to her mother’s actions. She remained in her room for the entire day on 24 December as well.

On Christmas day (25 December), the mother yelled at her daughter again due to the sleepover issue.

Later that day, she instructed her daughter to wash dishes and boil water with the electric kettle while she was doing so.

While she was washing the dishes in the kitchen, her mother walked in and started berating her about the sleepover once again.

Yup, this mother holds onto a grudge better than people who try and cancel others for things they did 30 years ago.

In response to her mother’s scolding, the girl told her that she slept over at a female friend’s house and that her friend’s family provided her with a meal when she did so.

Woman Swung Kettle at Daughter After Hearing Her Answer

However, this answer was the tipping point for the woman, who decided that the best idea to resolve the issue would be to swing a kettle full of hot boiling water at her daughter.

This caused the water in the kettle, which was filled to the brim, to scald the teenage girl.

DPP Chu added that the girl was left shellshocked after her mother’s actions. She cried and rushed to the toilet to rinse herself with water.

And even after she was scalded by the water, her mother still continued to scold her.

Grandparents Took Girl to Hospital

After the incident, the teenager decided to call her grandparents.

She also travelled to their house after that.

Although her grandparents initially tried to treat her burns with cream, they noticed that her injuries remained red and that blisters had formed on the teenager’s body.

The next day (26 December), the victim’s grandparents brought her to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital for medical attention.

In the hospital, it was confirmed that the victim had sustained first-degree burns on her forearm, second-degree burns on her chin, neck, shoulders and chest, as well as a slight burn mark on her wrist.

She was warded for 11 days, during which Child Protective Service (CPS) and the police were notified of the incident.

Judge’s Remarks

In court, DPP Chu sought a sentence of three to four weeks’ imprisonment for the mother.

In particular, DPP Chu pointed out that she breached a duty of care towards her daughter by scalding her with boiling water.

During the sentencing, District Judge Kessler Soh told the mother, “This rash act that you did in your anger, which caused hurt to your daughter, is something that no parent should do to their child. Such acts of violence within the family must be deterred.

“I hope you will never commit such an act against your daughter or anyone else again.”

Similar Cases Involving Scalding Loved Ones in Singapore

And this (unfortunately) isn’t the first case in Singapore involving people scalding their loved ones with boiling water.

In 2017, a woman named Zareena Begun P. A. M. Basheer Ahamed poured boiling water onto her boyfriend’s groin as she thought he was cheating on him.

When her then-boyfriend, who ended up being hospitalised for 26 days after the incident, asked her why she poured hot water on him, she said that it was to “teach him a lesson”.

She was sentenced to four years in jail in 2020 after being found guilty of causing grievous hurt to her then-boyfriend.

Join our Telegram channel for more entertaining and informative articles at https://t.me/goodyfeedsg or download the Goody Feed app here: https://goodyfeed.com/app/

More recently, a 5-year-old boy was tormented to death by his parents in 2019.

Apart from pouring hot water onto the young boy’s body to scald him, his parents abused him in other ways, such as repeatedly hitting and punching him.

They even went as far as to make him live in a cat cage.

His parents, Azlin Arujunah and Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman, were initially charged with murder.

However, after a series of appeals and changes in charges and sentences, both parents’ sentences were also changed last year to life imprisonment.