A 34-year-old woman abused her four-year-old son to death because he could not count beyond 10 in Malay.
Noraidah Mohd Yussof who her family members tell has Asperger’s Syndrome (a communications disorder) is being charged with grievously hurting her son.
Noraidah has a history of abusing her son from the years 2012 to 2014. She would push, stomp and beat her son for mistakes. The Ministry of Social and Family Development intervened at one point to send the hoy to live with his uncle.
The mother of the four-year-old confessed to repeatedly hitting her son in Aug 2014, causing him to suffer head injuries that would cause his death.
Noraidah, a divorcee, asked her son to recite the numbers 11 to 18 in English, then Malay when she picked him up from school. She shouted at him in disappointment when he could not do so in Malay. A little later, when the boy woke up from a nap, he again could not recite the numbers to his mother. The agitated woman pushed the four-year-old causing him to fall backwards and hit his head.
When the boy continued to recite the numbers wrongly, Noraidah assaulted him repeatedly. Finally, the mother held her son by the neck against the wall until he started gasping for air, and stopped moving.
She sought help from a neighbour when the boy stopped moving. The boy underwent emergency surgery in a hospital but died four days later.
Noraidah pleaded guilty to two counts each of causing grievous hurt and ill-treating a child. Two other counts of ill-treatment will be taken into consideration during sentencing.
