Punish abusers severely
IT is disgusting to read the report about the father torturing a young helpless child, “Mother might be granted temporary custody of battered girl” ( The Star, June 30).
Parents who abuse their children for whatever reason are monsters, and imposing harsh punishments on them is the only way to ensure the perpetrators know the severity of their crime.
In the reported case, the child abuse is the direct result of the parents’ failed marriage, with the father taking out his frustration on the poor innocent child who had nothing to do with their divorce, as reported in “Biological mum says it was a condition to her divorce” ( The Star, June 30).
It is likely that the child would have also suffered mental abuse for long periods of time. This may not leave any visible scars but it would have a deep mental impact on the child’s well-being.
It is absolutely wrong to use children as a pawn and bargaining chip in a divorce. The father who is in the dominant position made the child suffer, thus the appropriate punishment must be jail time and several strokes of the cane.
Obviously, some parents need to see the inside of the prison before realising their wrongdoings, as highlighted in “Many want couple severely punished” ( The Star, June 30).
Such reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg as there could be many more unreported incidents especially with regards to mental abuse.
There are some abusive parents who blame the child for anything bad that happens to them. What happens when one day the child decides to retaliate and say enough is enough? This would turn a relationship without foundation even worse and may result in undesirable actions between the child and parent, like the parent physically assaulting the child or, worse, committing murder.
Amending the Child Act is the way forward to ensure children are protected from monster parents. But there must also be reforms to the Penal Code to deal with abusive parents.
In Sweden, it is a crime to cane the child. Last year, the Malaysian couple accused of hitting their children was found guilty and sentenced to prison by the Solna District Court. The couple also had to pay their children damages. “Swedish court finds Malaysian couple guilty of hurting children, metes out jail sentence” ( The Star, March 28, 2014).
Our Penal Code needs to be reviewed to make it “easier” for children to seek justice against abusive parents, and receive compensation as well for all the wrongdoings committed on them. The weight of the law must be fully on the child’s side.
Such review includes the Estoppel principle to force the abusive parents to behave properly. This is also applicable to grown-up children especially when the abusive parent continues to impose their abusive ways.
Even when the child is already an adult, he or she must still retain the right to seek redress from the perpetrators when the laws are comprehensively strengthened in favour of the child’s voice. An example is having children testify in court where their statements carry weight that outrank the abusive parent’s.
As child abuse is criminal in nature, there is no statutory time limit for an aggrieved child to report the abusive parents. Even though the child may be an adult, he or she will still have the right to seek justice.
Such a draconian amendment to the Penal Code, which includes jailing abusive parents, fining them and paying compensation to the child, will act as an effective deterrent against child abuse.
NG SHU TSUNG Kuala Lumpur