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A 51-year-old Singaporean childcare teacher has been remanded in Malaysia for an additional three days since she was arrested on Oct. 3.
This means that while she was originally supposed to be held until Oct. 5, she will now be detained until at least Oct. 8.
Child's father exposed the abuse on Facebook
A viral Facebook post detailing her alleged abuse of an autistic child under her care had first brought the crime to light.
According to the child's father, who wrote the Facebook post, the incident took place on Oct. 1 at Maikidzcare Centre Bandar Baru Ampang, Selangor. Maikidzcare Centre is a specialised intervention centre for autistic children.
His Facebook post had garnered more than 26,000 shares as of Oct. 6.
Noticed bruises on son's face and body
Tengku Aminuddin Shafiq wrote that he was "shocked and angry" about what had happened to his son, Tengku Noah.
Aminuddin had previously noticed bruises on his son's face and body, but he thought the injuries were probably sustained by accident due to his son being active in school.
On one occasion, when Aminuddin picked up his son from school, he noticed bruises and marks on his son's back.
That was when he knew that the marks were not caused by his son himself.
Teacher dragged child across the floor
According to Malaysian news site Kosmo!, the police said the father requested to view CCTV footage of the class when one of the teachers told him that his son had hit his forehead against a table.
What he found out from viewing the footage was far more horrifying.
The childcare teacher, whom Aminuddin claimed to be the centre's principal, was seen feeding his son.
GIF via Tengku Aminuddin Shafiq/Facebook
His son, whom Aminuddin described as a "picky eater", was seen in the video refusing to eat what the teacher fed him.
The child then abruptly dashed across the classroom, and the teacher quickly chased after him.
The teacher managed to grab Noah's forearm, and dragged him across the room back to his seat.
She then violently pushed his seat to the table, causing Noah's chest to hit against the edge.
Teacher's actions "did not make sense"
Aminuddin wrote that it was clear from the footage that his son was visibly terrified of his teacher, and that there was no indication of his son misbehaving before the incident.
"Your justification on my son not wanting to eat is not acceptable or sufficient to support the way you treated him," he added.
Aminuddin further stated that the act of dragging his son across the floor was not reasonable and "did not make sense".
"As a father who pays monthly fees to the centre without fail, I am disappointed by their actions," he said, adding whether this is "the kind of service offered after paying quite a high fee".
Centre told father to "accept what was fated"
He also shared that when he confronted the centre for their mistreatment of his son, they told him to "accept what was fated".
"I was not satisfied with their treatment and took necessary actions against the centre," Aminuddin added.
He said that a police report had been lodged and that he had brought his son for a medical examination, both physical and mental.
"They are special children and if they were treated as such, where is the empathy in (the teachers') souls? What is the fate of the rest of the children?" he asked at the end of his post.
Caught minister's attention
The widely shared Facebook post caught the attention of Malaysia's Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Rina Mohd Harun.
She said that staff should be more "aware and sensitive" in dealing with children with special needs.
She promised that authorities would investigate the issue properly and swiftly, and that the appropriate punishment would be meted out against the perpetrator to deter other centres from doing the same.
The minister added that "the parents and the child will receive psychosocial intervention and counselling by registered counsellors".
Police: Centre license expired 7 years ago
According to Bernama, Ampang Jaya's police chief Mohamad Farouk Eshak said the woman had seven children, including the victim, under her care.
He added that an initial check had found that the centre's licence had expired, adding that the centre had been operating for seven years.
The woman, he said, was a Singaporean whose social visit pass was believed to have expired.
Farouk added that she will be investigated under the Child Act 2001 for neglect and the Immigration Act for overstaying and holding an expired social visit pass.
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Top images via Tengku Aminuddin Shafiq/Facebook