SINGAPORE: Enraged after a seven-year-old boy struck his young daughter in the face at an indoor playground, a man shoved the child to the ground twice.
Koh Gek Kuan, 44, was jailed for 80 days on Friday (Oct 23) after earlier pleading guilty to a count of voluntarily causing hurt to a child below 14 years old. Another charge of the same nature was taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The name of the boy, then seven, and the indoor playground where the incident occurred cannot be revealed due to a gag order imposed by the court.
On Aug 18, 2023, Koh was at the indoor playground in a mall with his daughter, then four.
At about 7.22pm, Koh's daughter chased the boy with an object while Koh trailed behind. The boy then hit his daughter in the face.
Seeing this, Koh charged towards the boy, who did not see him coming. The accused shoved the boy, causing the toys in the boy's hands to fly across the room as he fell face down.
The incident was witnessed by other patrons and staff members at the playground.
As the boy sat up from the floor, Koh confronted him again and forcefully pushed him.
The boy fell, with his head and left shoulder striking the floor.
Koh also swore at the boy and behaved aggressively towards the playground staff and patrons who later approached him. While Koh initially contested these facts at a subsequent hearing, the court found that he had uttered the vulgarity and behaved aggressively.
Compiled footage from cameras within the indoor playground capturing the incident was submitted to court.
The boy's parents brought him to hospital for a medical examination, which found that he had bruises on his head and knee, and redness on his right cheek.
In mitigation, lawyer Shaneet Nityanand Rai from Kalidass Law Corporation sought nine to 12 weeks' jail for his client, a self-employed IT business owner.
Mr Rai said Koh was remorseful and regretted his disproportionate reaction. He urged the court to consider his client's position as a parent and the difficulty of "restraining himself from reacting when an older boy hurt his then four-year-old daughter on her birthday".
The defence lawyer said Koh had brought his daughter to the playground for her fourth birthday.
"What was supposed to be a joyous occasion for the family, with a planned dinner thereafter ... turned into a nightmare of a weekend for Mr Koh and his family, as much as it was a traumatising experience for the victim," Mr Rai said.
According to the defence, the boy had snatched a toy bus from Koh's daughter and then hit her on the head. Koh initially dismissed the incident as children playing, but became more watchful because the boy appeared older and bigger than his daughter.
His daughter then chased the boy for the toy bus, after which he struck her in the face.
Koh then overreacted by pushing the boy. Mr Rai said Koh asked the boy where his parents were, but the boy did not understand him.
The boy's lack of reaction upset Koh further, prompting him to push the boy a second time in a further moment of folly, Mr Rai said.
The lawyer also detailed his client's mental health history of bipolar disorder, although he noted that this had no contributory or causal link to the incident.
"Koh’s prior mental health condition did impact his assessment and the way in which he views his daughter and his protective nature over her.
"We are instructed that Koh’s mental health condition initially started out because of his own negative experiences with his father, wherein he was abused as a child. He would be repeatedly hit by his father and this led him to become an overly protective father," Mr Rai said.
The defence also pointed out that there was no indication that the boy's injuries were permanent or had left any after-effects.
For voluntarily causing hurt, an offender may be jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.
For committing the offence against a victim under 14, an offender may be jailed up to twice the maximum punishment.