Woman faces charges of making child burn himself with joss stick, cut himself
File photo of joss sticks. (Photo: Unsplash/Sebastian Sammer)
SINGAPORE: A woman faces charges of causing a 12-year-old boy to harm himself with a lit joss stick and fruit knife in June and July this year.
The 41-year-old woman, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the victim, returned to court on Friday (Oct 30) for her charges under the Children and Young Persons Act.
She is accused of ill-treating the boy, who was under her care, sometime in June this year by handing him a fruit knife and instructing him to inflict cuts on himself.
The second charge states that she ill-treated the same boy at about 11am on Jul 25, by burning a joss stick and handing it to him. She then allegedly asked him to inflict burn marks on himself.
Court documents did not specify their relationship.
She was charged earlier this year but returned to court for a further mention of the case on Friday. The court heard that a medical report was not yet ready, and the investigation officer will address the Attorney-General's Chambers for directions once the report is in.
The woman, who is out on S$15,000 bail, will return to court next month.
If convicted of ill-treating a child under her care, she could be jailed for up to eight years and fined up to S$8,000 on each charge.
