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Landlady did not report toddler’s abuse as she feared for her safety

SINGAPORE — To caregivers, little Mohamad Daniel Mohamad Nasser was a “very good and cheerful boy” who “liked to make people laugh”. But to his mother, the most innocuous things the two-year-old did — even just looking at her — invited punishment, frequently by making the toddler stand dead-still at a corner with his head tilted back, staring at the ceiling.

Ms Puspawati Abdul Razat, who is wheelchairbound, in her one-room flat in
Telok Blangah Crescent. She was dissuaded by the couple from calling an ambulance for Daniel, but managed to do so with her niece’s help. Photo: Damien Teo/TODAY

Ms Puspawati Abdul Razat, who is wheelchairbound, in her one-room flat in
Telok Blangah Crescent. She was dissuaded by the couple from calling an ambulance for Daniel, but managed to do so with her niece’s help. Photo: Damien Teo/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — To caregivers, little Mohamad Daniel Mohamad Nasser was a “very good and cheerful boy” who “liked to make people laugh”. But to his mother, the most innocuous things the two-year-old did — even just looking at her — invited punishment, frequently by making the toddler stand dead-still at a corner with his head tilted back, staring at the ceiling.

The image of Daniel being punished this way is something that will haunt her forever, said Ms Puspawati Abdul Razat, who took in Zaidah, her boyfriend Zaini Jamari and Daniel in July last year.

“I (will) never forget (this) ... They ask him (to) put his hands behind his back and hit him ... They treat him like a ball, kick him,” the 50-year-old said in halting English when TODAY first visited her Telok Blangah Crescent one-room flat two weeks ago.

Over five weeks, Zaidah, 41, and Zaini, 46, rained blows on the little boy — who was 0.9m tall and weighed 10.8kg — while Ms Puspawati, who is wheelchair-bound, watched helplessly. Daniel’s nightmare ended on Nov 23 last year when he died after another such beating the previous day.

On Tuesday (July 5), Zaidah was sentenced to 11 years’ jail and Zaini 10 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane.

Ms Puspawati, who became acquainted with Zaidah through her cousin, said she offered to let the couple stay in her flat when they lost their jobs as cleaners and she could no longer afford caregiving for Daniel.

Recalling Zaidah as a “good person” when they first met, Ms Puspawati said: “I never thought she could do this ... I don’t know Zaidah how, see (Daniel), she angry. So (she) asks him not to see her face, ask him to see cupboard.” She added that Daniel was mentally “strong” and hardly cried from the physical abuse but would sometimes call out for his previous caregivers. Each time he was shoved to the floor, Daniel picked himself up — until Nov 23.

What happened that day is still vivid to Ms Puspawati. She was woken by Zaini, who said: “Do you want to hear a story? I tried to wake Daniel up but he didn’t wake up.” Ms Puspawati said she was dissuaded by the couple from calling an ambulance, but she managed to do so, with her niece’s help. After Daniel was pronounced dead that day, Zaidah came home and “did not even cry”, she added. In fact, the couple watched the TV as if nothing had happened.

Asked why she did not report the abuse, Ms Puspawati said she feared for her personal safety. She is wheelchair-bound because of complications from a stroke and her diabetic condition. “If she pushes me, I also die ... I also must take care of myself ... You think I never scold them?” she said. “That is why I go outside sometimes, I don’t want to see (how they assault Daniel).”

Tears welling up in her eyes, she added: “I wanted to help them and this is what happened.”

At the court hearing earlier yesterday, Daniel’s uncle Manaf Al Ansari told TODAY that Daniel’s biological father, Mr Mohamad Nasser Abdul Gani, and Zaidah divorced after a short-lived marriage. Mr Nasser did not know Zaidah was pregnant with his son then, and only found out when he was in jail for drug offences.

When he was released in June last year, he tried in vain to reach his son.

“He searched high and low, but ... the day he touched his son was the day he buried him,” said Mr Manaf.

Mr Nasser, who quit his job as a cleaning supervisor after Daniel’s death, broke down on Tuesday: “I cannot celebrate my Hari Raya, I think about my son.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AMANDA LEE

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