Man, 28, on trial for murder of four-year-old stepdaughter
SINGAPORE – A 28-year-old man went on trial on Tuesday (Feb 2) for killing his four-year-old stepdaughter, allegedly after he became angry at her for urinating outside the toilet bowl.
Muhammad Salihin Ismail is accused of causing fatal injury to the girl, Nursabrina Agustiani Abdullah, some time between 9am on Sept 1, 2018, and 9.40am on Sept 2, 2018, at a flat in Bukit Batok.
He faces the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted of murder.
Salihin also faces two other charges for acts of violence against the girl. All the alleged offences took place between July 2017 and September 2018.
The High Court heard that the girl came into his care after he was released from the Singapore Armed Forces detention barracks in February 2017.
“Within a year and a half she was dead,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Senthilkumaran Sabapathy.
The court was told that Salihin’s wife is in prison and will be testifying as a prosecution witness.
The two other charges have been stood down for now, after defence lawyers objected to Salihin being tried on the non-capital charges together with the capital murder charge.
Salihin is accused of causing hurt to the girl between July and October 2017 at his parent’s flat by scalding her, allegedly after he became angry at her for not wanting to shower with cold water. He was trying to save on electricity costs.
He allegedly placed a shower head, with hot water flowing out of it, on her back for about five to six seconds.
Salihin is also accused of ill-treating the girl by slamming her head against the floor, allegedly because he was upset that she had hid under the bed when he was trying to feed her.
In arguing against a joint trial, defence lawyer Syazana Yahya contended that it cannot be said from the three alleged incidents that there was an escalating pattern of violence.
She argued that her client would be prejudiced by having to defend himself against the non-capital charges as well as the murder charge.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
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