Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Alleged murder of 5-year-old boy: His skin turned yellowish and whitish from burns

SINGAPORE — Yellowish, whitish, wet and raw, with parts peeling off. That was how large parts of the scalded skin of the five-year-old boy who was allegedly murdered by his parents looked like, said the pathologist who conducted his autopsy, Dr Chan Shijia.

The cage where the boy was said to have been confined in.

The cage where the boy was said to have been confined in.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — Yellowish, whitish, wet and raw, with parts peeling off. That was how large parts of the scalded skin of the five-year-old boy who was allegedly murdered by his parents looked like, said the pathologist who conducted his autopsy, Dr Chan Shijia.

Photos taken during his autopsy were presented in court on Wednesday (Nov 13) as Dr Chan took the stand in the trial of the boy’s parents, Azlin Arujunah and Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman, who are both 27 years old.

The couple is accused of splashing the boy with hot water on his legs, hands, chest, hands and stomach, on at least four occasions between Oct 15 and Oct 22 in 2016.

On top of charges of committing murder with common intention during this period, Azlin and Ridzuan also face multiple charges of ill-treating and assaulting the child in their home, including confining him in their cat’s metal cage, which was presented in court on Wednesday as well.

The abuse allegedly occurred in a one-room rental flat located in the central area of Singapore.

THE BOY’S LAST MOMENTS

Going into vivid detail on how the boy’s last moments were likely to be, Dr Chan, who is an associate consultant forensic pathologist with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), said it would have been “very painful” as three-quarters of his body surface had “partial thickness” scald burns.

Also known as second degree burns, these are more painful than “full thickness” burns (or third degree burns) as these would have reached the capillaries or blood vessels, resulting in bleeding, but nerve damage might not have been complete for numbness to set in.

When a large part of the skin — the protective layer of the body — is missing, the body is no longer shielded from infections, Dr Chan added.

Noting that it is uncommon for people to die of severe burns, Dr Chan said: “For patients to die, they die from infection because of the loss of skin protection.” The infection could result in multi-organ failure, she added.

The boy was observed to be drowsy, hypothermic (having a low body temperature), and hypotensive (having low blood pressure), when he was admitted to the Emergency Department of the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital at close to 8pm on Oct 22, 2016. By 8.05am the next day, he had no pulse.

Dr Chan testified that for adults, it is generally accepted that 40 per cent burns would have made it fatal or life threatening. For children, the threshold is likely to be lower as the skin of children under the age of six is “way thinner” than adults, she added.

LACERATIONS FROM BEING CONFINED IN CAGE

The boy had other injuries, including substantial bleeding under his scalp measuring 18cm by 10cm. That’s “almost the entire head”, Dr Chan said.

There were “quite a lot of blood clots” that appeared dark red and brown — the effects of blunt force trauma, which contributed to the boy’s death, she added.

The cage where the boy was said to have been confined was presented in court on Wednesday.

It measured 70cm in height, 58cm in width and 90cm in length. The boy was 105cm tall.

Follow us on Telegram:

Get TODAY's headlines delivered to your phone: t.me/todayonlinesg

*TODAY's WhatsApp news service will cease from November 30, 2019.

HSA analyst Crystal Lai Liang-Sung testified that swabs from the cage revealed the presence of the boy’s DNA.

Dr Chan, meanwhile, said that it is possible that lacerations found on the boy’s face and possibly the scalp were the result of being confined in the cage. She noted that the cage had a few sharp areas.

The trial continues on Thursday, when the boy’s foster mother is expected to take the stand.

Related topics

child abuse murder court crime

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.