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A woman who scalded her five-year-old son to death in their one-room Toa Payoh flat has escaped the death penalty, but had her 27-year jail sentence, plus extra 12-month jail in lieu of caning, increased to life imprisonment.
The Court of Appeal also upped the sentence of her husband from 27 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane to life in imprisonment as well.
The outcome of the appeal against their previous sentences was reported by CNA and The Straits Times.
Both Azlin Arujunah and her husband Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman are 30 years old.
Death by scalding
They were held responsible for the death of their son by causing cumulative scald injuries on him by splashing or pouring hot water on him over a week in October 2016.
The boy was also hit with a hanger, pinched with pliers, and confined in a cage meant for the family cat.
He limped in pain and had blisters and peeling skin.
He fell forward and stopped moving while attacked with hot water in the toilet on Oct. 22, 2016.
He was taken to hospital only after more than six hours as his parents were afraid of getting arrested.
The court heard during trial previously that Azlin was abused as a child and had hot water splashed on her.
Prosecutors appealed sentence
The couple were acquitted of murder initially and given lesser charges of voluntarily causing grievous hurt by heated means.
Azlin was eventually convicted of murder after the prosecution appealed and the Court of Appeal allowed it.
However, the court of appeal did not grant the death penalty after the prosecutors appealed for it.
Why no death penalty
The written judgment was by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Justices Andrew Phang, Judith Prakash, Tay Yong Kwang and Steven Chong, CNA reported.
The key factor weighing against the imposition of a death penalty for Azlin was the finding by the trial judge that she did not understand that death could have resulted from her actions.
The mother, the trial judge found, did not intend to inflict an injury sufficient enough to kill her son.
The appeal judges said they should not be swayed by the "gruesomeness" of the crimes in determining if the death penalty should be imposed, CNA also reported.
Why no caning for the husband
After the boy was injured, both Azlin and Ridzuan did attempt to help the boy by applying medicated oils and powder on him, even though such actions were inadequate.
This was also one reason why the court declined to order Ridzuan to be caned, which was a punishment sought by the prosecution.
The judges found that Ridzuan participated in only two of the four scalding incidents that led to his son's death, although he was found responsible for bringing violence into the family with his abuse of Azlin.
Adding 12 strokes of the cane on top of life imprisonment will double-count certain factors, the appeal judges found.
The apex court also cited the principle of parity, saying that even though the pair were convicted of different charges, they share a very similar degree of culpability in this case.
Top photos via Wikipedia