Mum tells court why she hit son

STOCKHOLM: The Malaysian mother on trial here for allegedly abusing her children told a court she hit her eldest son on one occasion when he threw a tantrum.

Shalwati Nurshal said that on the day she hit Ammar, the boy, who is now 12, had been in a foul mood after she took his sister Aishah’s side during an argument.

When asked by prosecutor Anna Arnell about a charge that she had hit the boy for watching YouTube videos instead of doing his French homework, Shalwati said: “Ah, this is the event that led us here ... that event that put us in cells.”

She told the Solna district court yesterday, “Ammar had been fighting with his sister, so I told him to take wudhu (ablution) as Muslims believe that can help people calm down.”

She added that Ammar went to the bathroom and began to throw a tantrum, knocking things off the counter and throwing things about.

“So I hit him on the shoulder and told him to stop,” said Shalwati.

On Feb 10, she and husband Azizul Raheem Awalluddin were charged with multiple counts of gross violation of a child’s integrity by allegedly hitting and abusing their four children.

The offences allegedly took place at the family’s home in Spnga, a Stockholm suburb, between Sept 15, 2010 and Dec 17, 2013. Sweden outlaws corporal punishment and the couple face up to six years in prison if convicted.

Shalwati appeared calm when replying to questions, translated to English, by Arnell.

On several occasions, the former teacher asked the prosecutor to elaborate and explain her questions.

Asked if her slap had hurt Ammar, Shalwati said her son seemed more shocked than hurt.

“I think Ammar had been looking for a chance to finally tell his friends his mum hit him,” said Shalwati, denying all accusations of mistreating Ammar.

Asked if she had pulled Ammar’s ear “until his hands shook” over a Maths homework, Shalwati said: “More exaggerations!”

She said she was happy to teach him Maths as the boy rarely asked for help.

The trial continues on Monday.