A 28-year-old man from Singapore went on trial for murder on 2 February after killing his four-year-old stepdaughter in September 2018 at their flat in Bukit Batok, reported The Straits Times.
Muhammad Salihin became angry with his stepdaughter, Nursabrina Agustiani Abdullah, after she urinated outside the toilet bowl. He confessed in his police statements and psychiatric interviews that he kicked the girl’s abdomen while she was on the floor, and said that he had targeted her stomach to “teach her a lesson” for having “so much problem peeing or passing motion”.
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Salihin said that he and his wife, Syabilla Syamien Riyadi, 24, had been trying to toilet-train Sabrina as she was about to start pre-school. On 1 September 2018, Salihin saw a puddle of urine on the floor outside the toilet and became angry. At this time, Syabilla had already left for work.
He placed the girl on the toilet bowl and hit her in the stomach a few times with his fist. Later that afternoon, Sabrina went to the toilet on her own as instructed by Sahilin. However, Salihin found that she urinated on the floor again and pushed her to the floor.
Sabrina was lying on her side when Salihin kicked her in the stomach at least twice. He then picked her up and hit her again in the stomach as she cried out.
In the evening on the same day, Syabilla came home with dinner. After eating some rice, Sabrina complained of stomach pain and started vomiting, which went on overnight. The next morning, Sabrina fell unconscious after Salihin used his finger to ease her vomit. He then carried her out of the toilet and told Syabilla to call an ambulance.
When the paramedics arrived at about 9.30am, Sabrina was not breathing and had no pulse rate. They tried to resuscitate her but were to no avail. The girl was then declared dead at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
Salihin was arrested the next day after hospital officials reported the death to the police. Meanwhile, autopsy results showed that Sabrina died from internal bleeding due to blunt force trauma of the abdomen.
Salihin now faces the death penalty of life imprisonment if convicted of murder.
The prosecution cited case law and said that it only needs to prove that Salihin intended to inflict the fatal injuries and it was not necessary to prove an intention to cause death
Facing two other charges
This is not the only charge Salihin is facing as he also faces two other charges for acts of violence against the girl.
Between July and October 2017, Salihin was accused of causing hurt by scalding the girl with hot water from a showerhead, which he allegedly held on her back for five to six seconds. He did this because he was trying to save on electricity costs and was angry at her for not wanting to shower with cold water, the court heard.
Between January and April 2018, Salihin was also accused of ill-treating the girl by slamming her head on the floor as he apparently was upset that she had hid under the bed when he was trying to feed her.
Currently, Syabilla is in prison and has been lined up as a prosecution witness. Meanwhile, the trial continues on Wednesday (3 February).
Also read: Selangor Man Sentenced To 1,050 Years In Jail For Raping 12yo Stepdaughter 105 Times
