PUBLISHED ONJuly 09, 2026 11:13 AMBYDana LeongA Singaporean man pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse on Thursday (July 9) after hurting a student with a hanger and forcing him to drink his own urine.
The man was also charged with one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt, and one count of providing false or misleading information to the Ministry of Manpower.
The 31-year-old man had abused multiple students while employed by his aunt who ran an educational facility.
He cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the identity of the abused children.
He was hired to tutor primary school students in English and Mathematics, and was responsible for taking care of the foreign students staying at the facility, reported The Straits Times (ST).
According to court documents seen by AsiaOne, he did not have any teaching or childcare qualifications.
The man had repeatedly abused a six-year-old male Chinese national who had moved into the facility in January 2023.
For example, the student was locked in the toilet, and was only allowed to consume bread and water.
Other forms of punishment inflicted included being forced to hold a push-up position for long periods of time. One such instance occurred on March 9, 2023, when the boy was studying English.
While other students were allowed to eat dinner, the boy was forced to hold the position from 3.45pm till the next morning, reported ST.
The man even stomped on the boy at 1.15am while the boy held the push-up position, and placed a chair on the boy between 2am and 7am.
He also forced the boy to urinate into a basin and drink the urine when he was thirsty.
The man had called the boy's father the next day, asking for permission to discipline him, though he did not mention the physical abuse inflicted, reported ST.
He received permission from the boy's father, and continued abusing the boy throughout the day, not allowing him to go to school.
He repeatedly hit the boy with a hanger over 620 times, and stomped on his back and buttocks over 45 times, according to charge sheets.
The man even continued hitting the child despite instructions from his aunt to stop when she returned to the facility in the evening, ST said.
Charge sheets revealed that the boy suffered multiple injuries from the abuse, including rib fractures, extensive bruising over his body, and a lung injury caused by blunt force to the chest.
Additionally, the child suffered from severe muscle breakdown and severe hypertension due to kidney failure.
The man was also revealed to have abused other students at the facility.
One such instance happened in January 2023, when he forced another student to stay in a push-up position for about three hours while using a hanger to hit him.
He also punched a child numerous times and hit him with a hanger on the back on March 1, 2023.
According to ST, a police report was lodged against the man on March 3 after the boy's parents were informed by his teachers about the injuries.
The man will return to court and be sentenced on Aug 21.
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