A two-month-old baby died after suffering weeks of abuse by her parents, with the mother inflicting fatal head injuries that led to the infant being pronounced brain dead on 13 Jan 2023.
Sim Liang Xiu, 31, and Peh Wei Jian, 34, were sentenced to jail on 2 Apr for the death of their biological daughter, Zabelle Peh Yu Xuan. Sim received eight years’ jail while Peh was handed seven years.
Prolonged Pattern of Physical Abuse Leading to Fatal Injury
The couple’s abuse of Zabelle began shortly after her birth on 6 Nov 2022. Text messages presented in court showed they were beating her when she was less than two weeks old.
On 18 Nov 2022, in the earliest messages presented in court, Peh told his wife to “try” not to beat the baby.
In another exchange on 6 Dec 2022, Sim told her husband that she kept beating the baby whenever she used their family photo as her display picture.
Sim admitted to acts such as slapping the baby’s face, pulling and biting her left arm, and forcefully dropping her into the cot. Peh admitted to forcefully pushing the tip of a milk bottle into the baby’s mouth, pinching and slapping her, and throwing her into the cot.
According to court documents, on 8 Jan 2023, Sim threw Zabelle into a cot because she was upset with the baby for soiling herself, causing blunt force trauma to the infant’s head.
The next morning, Peh found the infant unresponsive after bathing her. The couple then planned to lie to authorities and healthcare providers to cover up their abuse before calling an ambulance.
When paramedics arrived, they performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the baby, whose heart had stopped. Sim told a paramedic that the baby had become unresponsive after falling from a bed.
Medical Evidence Revealed History of Injuries and Parental Deception
Zabelle was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for emergency treatment before being transferred to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Doctors noted dried blood over her nostrils and that she had no pulse.
Medical examinations revealed the infant had suffered multiple areas of bleeding in her brain, a healed rib fracture, a healed fracture of her left upper arm bone, and new bone formation in her right upper arm bone, suggesting prior injury.
An autopsy found that Zabelle had sustained an 11cm skull fracture and bleeding around her brain. The baby’s cause of death was determined to be from a head injury. She was pronounced brain dead on 13 Jan 2023.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh said during the trial: “It is shocking that such injuries can be found when the deceased is only two months old. The inference can be drawn that the injuries (were inflicted) close in time to her date of birth, as it has taken time to heal.”
While initially claiming Peh had accidentally dropped the baby in the shower, the couple later admitted to their abuse.
Messages between them showed Peh was aware of the violence, at one point warning Sim: “if we keep like that beat her or what, sure one day we go police station.”
In one message, Sim stated: “Dun act like you never abuse la I want to make her die also not your problem.”
Sim, who was initially charged with murder, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder after being diagnosed with post-natal depression, which was deemed to have “significantly impaired her mental responsibility” for her actions.
Peh pleaded guilty to failing to take steps to protect Zabelle. Each also had one charge of ill-treating Zabelle taken into consideration for their sentencing.
Sim’s lawyer, Manoj Nandwani, highlighted her history of depression dating back to 2007 when she was 14, including a suicide attempt in 2011. He said his client had instructed him not to object to the prosecution’s proposed sentence.
Peh’s lawyer, Ng Yuan Siang, argued for a reduced sentence of three to four years’ jail, claiming his client was physically abused by Sim and had low culpability. He said Peh had told Sim to use less force or stop hitting the infant on at least seven occasions.
In delivering the sentence, Justice Dedar Singh Gill noted that it was “difficult for a sentient person to fathom the cruelty inflicted on Zabelle.”
The judge rejected the portrayal of Peh as a victim of domestic abuse and found that his culpability was high.
Justice Gill pointed out Peh’s own abuse of Zabelle, saying there was no indication that he carried out these acts due to his wife’s “dominance over him,” and added that there was no evidence to show that Sim was physically abusive toward him.
The judge called Peh’s messages to Sim asking her not to hurt the baby “plainly inadequate” and said the defense’s proposed sentence for him was “manifestly inadequate” as it failed to take into account the seriousness of the offense and its aggravating factors.
The text messages also referred to an older child, but no further mention was made of this child in court.
Sim and Peh were arrested on 12 Jan 2023 and have been in custody since.
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