S'pore man, 32, strangles & dunks infant nephew in water over grudge against brother-in-law

A 32-year-old Singapore man admitted to repeatedly abusing his infant nephew-in-law over about three months, including choking him, smothering him with a pillow and pushing his head into a pail of water, while recording many of the acts on his mobile phone.

He later transferred the videos to his tablet device and watched them whenever he was reminded of a grudge he held against the toddler’s father, who is his brother-in-law, and felt angry towards him.

The child was between nine and 11 months old when the offences took place between July and September 2024. The abuse only came to light after a passer-by saw the man handling the toddler roughly at a void deck and called the police.

The man, who cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the victim’s identity, faces eight charges of ill-treating a child under the Children and Young Persons Act, with multiple similar charges taken into consideration.

Abuse carried out when he was alone with toddler

The man was living with his wife, mother-in-law and a domestic helper in a five-room HDB flat at the time.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the toddler’s grandmother had asked the child’s father to let the boy stay over for a few days at a time, saying she missed him and wanted to help care for him.

During those visits, the accused would assist with caregiving, including feeding the toddler, putting him to sleep and taking him out for walks.

However, prosecutors said he would abuse the child whenever he had the opportunity to be alone with him, usually inside his bedroom or when he brought the boy downstairs.

Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew said the accused had “engineered opportunities to be alone with the victim” and took advantage of those moments to abuse him repeatedly while avoiding detection.

He added:

“The accused had repeatedly abused the innocent victim in such a calculated, sadistic manner, in order to satisfy his grudge against the victim’s father.”

Videos showed repeated abuse

One of the earliest incidents took place on Jul. 18, 2024, when the man offered to shower the toddler while others in the flat were occupied.

Inside the master bedroom toilet, he placed the child into a pail, filled it with water, and then pushed the toddler’s head face-down into the water for about six seconds while repeatedly pressing his head downwards forcefully.

When he released him, the child gasped for air and began crying again. The incident was video-recorded.

Later that afternoon at around 2:28pm, while the toddler was lying face up on a bed, the man struck his face and body several times with a bolster before pressing a pillow down onto the victim’s face for about 10 seconds.

Court documents stated that the toddler struggled and tried to push his hand away before the man released him, after which he continued crying loudly.

He then grabbed the victim’s left wrist and forcefully twisted the victim’s arm such that the victim’s wrist was excessively rotated outwards beyond the normal range of rotation.

When the toddler’s father came to the unit to pick his son up after the five days, the father noticed that his child was crying more than usual, but did not suspect anything amiss at the time.

Abuse escalated in August

On Aug. 14, at about 3:19pm, the man inserted a clothes hanger into the back of the toddler’s T-shirt, held the victim in the air with the hanger, walked around the room, and dropped him from standing height onto a mattress on the ground.

He then strangled the toddler for about 11 seconds, before later grabbing his neck again for another 15 seconds. The child kicked and struggled and gasped for air when released.

The accused then forcefully slapped the victim’s face four times. The victim was crying loudly throughout this time.

On Aug. 15, he strangled the toddler repeatedly in his bedroom, with one episode lasting about 20 seconds.

During one incident, the child began foaming at the mouth and lay motionless in a dazed condition after being released.

Passerby intervened after witnessing abuse at void deck

The offences were eventually uncovered on Sep. 16, 2024.

That afternoon, the man brought the toddler downstairs, placed him on a metal table at a void deck and began abusing him again while filming the incident.

The accused repeatedly hit the toddler on his forehead, causing the child to fall backwards onto the table.

The accused then grabbed the victim’s hair, and shook his head forcefully and violently several times, before proceeding to strangle and slap the toddler forcefully on his face, head and body.

A woman passing by later called the police and told officers she saw a man treating a toddler “really rough, like abuse”, adding that he was dragging the kid and the shaking looked severe enough to cause a concussion.

When she confronted him, the man released his grip on the child’s neck and claimed he had only been trying to put the toddler to sleep.

When the informant tried to stop the accused from leaving, the accused asked her what her problem was. He told her that he knew how to take care of his kid, and not to be “extra”.

Police managed to trace the accused and later arrested him at the flat that day at about 6pm.

Abuse had contributed to developmental delay

In sentencing submissions, prosecutors highlighted the extreme youth and vulnerability of the victim, adding that the infant was completely defenceless against the accused and had no way to escape.

Chew said:

“His egregious abuse of the victim represented an abuse of that trust and confidence reposed in him.

He repeatedly tortured the victim in a cruel and inhumane way, with the abuse escalating over time.”

The prosecution is seeking between 12 and 15 years’ imprisonment.

It said the abuse not only caused pain, fear and distress, but also posed significant danger to the child’s safety and life.

Medical reports cited by the prosecution found the toddler had been exposed to risk of traumatic brain injury, musculoskeletal trauma and inadequate oxygen to the brain during repeated strangulation and suffocation episodes.

Doctors also assessed that the abuse had likely already contributed to developmental delay, including moderate-to-severe expressive speech delay.

Defence cites remorse, financial support

The defence asked for between eight and 10 years’ jail instead, according to CNA.

His lawyer said the man was remorseful, had paid for the toddler’s medical expenses, and contributed financially towards domestic help for the victim’s family after the offences.

Sentencing was adjourned to May.

Top images via Canva, Mothership