A former e-hailing driver in Johor was sentenced to eight years and six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to abusing a young boy and forcing him to consume his own excrement.
Chan Wen Jie pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of abusing the child under Section 31(1) of the Child Act 2001 before Judicial Commissioner Datuk Abdul Fareed Abdul Gapoor today.
According to NST, Chan was initially charged with murdering Lee See Jie at a house in Jalan Ria 2, Taman Skudai Ria, Skudai, between 8pm and 8.30pm on Oct 2, 2022.
However, the charge, which was framed under Section 302 of the Penal Code, was later withdrawn.
Harsh words from judge
In delivering the grounds of judgement, Gapoor didn’t hold back in admonishing Chan for subjecting the boy to unthinkable levels of cruelty.
He described Chan’s alleged act of forcing the boy to eat faeces from his disposable diaper as “uncivilised, degrading and wholly unacceptable as a form of discipline.”
Gapoor also brought up CCTV footage which showed Chan physically abusing Lee, including banging his head, making him do squats, forcing him to stand for prolonged periods and caning him.
The footage showed that the accused’s actions went beyond ordinary physical punishment and amounted to excessive and merciless abuse of a three-year-old child who was unable to protect himself.”
Chan was castigated for breaking the trust of Lee’s father, who had entrusted him with caring for his son.
Gapoor also rejected the defence’s argument that Chan had disciplined Lee in the same way he disciplined his own child, saying that Chan could’ve returned the boy back to his father if he was unable to care for him.
Sentence
Chan was ordered to serve his sentence from the date of his arrest on Oct 3, 2022.
He was also ordered to enter into a three-year good behaviour bond with one surety without security and complete 36 hours of community service within six months.
However, the court did not consider the withdrawn murder charge or the cause of Lee’s death when determining the sentence for the child abuse offence.
This comes after the court believed that jailing Chan was appropriate after weighing aggravating and mitigating factors.
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