(Image source:ST)
A woman 34 years old was sentenced to eight years jail for causing the death of her son for not reciting the numbers 11 to 18 in Malay properly.
The defence claimed that Noraidah Mohd Yussof has Asperger syndrome – disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication. But was rejected by the judge.
Instead the judge accepted the prosecution that she has personality aberration – including a very low tolerance for frustration, a tendency to act impulsively and marked proneness to blame others.
When the boy was two, Noraidah, became irritated when teaching him the alphabet. She pushed him and stepped on his ribs when he fell. She also twisted his hand when he scribbled on a sofa. She later took him to hospital, where he was found with fractures to an elbow, calf and four ribs, as well as multiple bruises.
When the boy was four, Noraidah pushed him for not reciting numbers properly. She then told him to get ready as she was going to fetch his sister from school. As she took a shower, he stood outside the bathroom, still reciting.
She got angry that he was mumbling numbers instead of getting ready, she then held him by the neck until he was lifted off the ground against the wall. He started gasping for air and then stopped moving.
In what the prosecution described as one of the saddest cases of child abuse.