Swedish child abuse trial: ‘We are their slaves’

STOCKHOLM: The eldest son of the Malaysian couple in Sweden, who are on trial for allegedly hitting their children, said a rotan was used to keep his siblings in line like slaves.

"It's like they're controlling us with that thing. And we want to get rid of it," said Ammar, 12, in a pre-recorded interview, played in the Solna district court, here on Friday.

"They think they're the slave masters and we're the slaves," he added. Upon hearing this, his mother Shalwati Nurshal was seen pursing her lips and crossing her arms.

Shalwati and her husband, Azizul Raheem Awalluddin were detained on Dec 18 last year after Ammar told staff at his school that he had been hit, leading them to report the matter to the authorities.

The policewoman asked Ammar to explain what the stick used for beating his siblings was called, to which he replied it was a 'rotan' in Malay, though he didn't know if it had an English name.

While his seven-year-old brother, Arif struggled to describe the rotan, calling it 'stick with a knot', Ammar vividly explained it as a "yellowing stick, made of wood or bamboo, that's kind of bendy and about half a metre long."

During the interview, the policewoman interviewing Ammar asked if the rotan had any other use, like how a hanger that was used to "beat" was actually meant to hang clothes.

"It's used to hit things," affirmed Ammar.

"I think it's for teaching. In Malaysia, she (Shalwati) uses it when teaching the Quran. When I make many mistakes, she would hit me or smack the ground," he said.

When asked by the policewoman how Ammar knew his siblings were being beaten, Ammar said his younger brothers would "share their pain" but admitted his elder sister, Aishah was more reserved.

Shalwati's lawyer, Kristofer Stahre later told reporters that Shalwati was looking forward to giving her testimony and explaining her version of the events.

On Feb 10, Shalwati and Azizul were charged with multiple counts of gross violation of a child's integrity, by hitting and abusing their children.

The alleged offences took place in the family's home in Spånga, a Stockholm suburb, between Sept 15, 2010 and Dec 17, 2013.

The trial continues on Monday.