SINGAPORE: A pre-school teacher forcefully kicked and bruised the shin of a four-year-old pupil whom she thought had caused her to nearly trip.
Alamelu Paramaguru then scolded the little girl who hugged her injured leg in pain.
Alamelu, who did not own up to her actions at first, was charged after investigators viewed CCTV footage of the incident in April 2024.
On Aug 19, the 57-year-old Singaporean, who is no longer working as a pre-school teacher, was sentenced to four days’ jail after she pleaded guilty in July to ill-treating the child.
Before handing down the sentence, District Judge Koo Zhi Xuan said that Alamelu did not come clean at first, and that she was not a random stranger to the victim.
He also noted that the former pre-school teacher had scolded the child, who was in pain, after kicking her.
However, the judge added that he was aware that Alamelu was “not having an easy time” before she committed the offence and was then in a “high stress environment”, handling a class of around 15 children.
In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh told the court that Alamelu was preparing for her pupils’ nap time shortly before she committed the offence at around noon on April 2, 2024.
Alamelu was moving a sleeping cot to a corner of a classroom, when she “felt that she was nearly tripped by the victim who was seated on the floor, though (Alamelu) did not actually trip or fall”, said the prosecutor.
“The accused was angry and immediately forcefully kicked the victim on her right shin, while scolding and shouting at the victim to sit properly.”
When the child’s mother went to the pre-school at around 5.40pm that day, the child complained that Alamelu had kicked her. The mother also saw the bruise.
As Alamelu had left for the day, the mother spoke to Alamelu’s colleagues, who said that they would alert the principal of the school.
The mother lodged a police report that evening and took her daughter to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. The child was given two days’ medical leave.
Alamelu later told investigators that she “could not remember what had happened”. She also claimed that her foot could have “unconsciously” touched the victim’s leg.
However, a CCTV camera in the classroom caught her ill-treating the child, and she was later charged in court.
On Tuesday (Aug 19), defence lawyer Jonathan Wong from Tembusu Law told the court that he hoped a fine could be considered for Alamelu, but added that she was prepared to face whatever punishment the court meted out to her.
Wong said that his client, who is blind in one eye, had worked in childcare for some 30 years and the offence was a one-off incident. - The Straits Times/ANN
