Boy held by teen aunt while grandaunt splashed hot oil on him

A 10-year-old boy was abused countless times by his relatives who fostered him while his mother was in prison, The Straits Times reported on Thursday.
 
One of the abuses he sustained was having hot cooking oil splashed on his face and body earlier this year by his grandaunt while his 14-year-old aunt and her two sisters held him down.
 
The boy, who cannot be named to protect his identity, suffered facial deformities with first-degree burns and several scars over his head and face, reported Channel NewsAsia quoting a medical report by KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
 
The boy came to live with the family when he was four after his mother was jailed. The abuse started in 2009 when he was 8.
 
All five family members have been arrested and the 14-year-old pleaded guilty on Thursday to helping her mother commit the act.
 
The teen is also facing two other charges of abetting her mother in burning the boy's back and neck with a hot ladle and cutting his fingers with a scissors. These charges were considered when District Judge Edgar Foo called for a probation report, local media reported.
 
During the hearing, the paper observed that the girl, who is currently in remand at the Singapore Girls’ Home, was expressionless and did not look at her mother.
 
CNA reported that the girl’s lawyer M S Rajendran said she was “not thinking rationally" during the time of abuse and felt sorry for the boy, whom she knew was in pain, but could not defy her mother.
 
The girl's parents were present at the hearing. Her mother was handcuffed and in prison garb, while her father is out on bail for allegedly splashing hot water on the boy's body, ST reported.
 
Her two elder sisters, 20 and 24, remain in remand.
 
The boy is currently living in a welfare home and coping well, the paper said.
 
The next hearing will be on 10 Jan 2012.