Woman filmed hitting mother: Neighbour faces 2 additional charges

Darwinder Singh, accused of abetting Siti Redha Khamis in voluntarily causing hurt to her mother, was read two additional charges in court on Friday (Jul 31).

He now faces three charges in total.

The 39-year-old was first charged in court last Friday for abetting Siti, 25, in voluntarily causing hurt to her mother, Mdm Kamisah Burel, 58, by allegedly feeding the older woman faeces and urine.

Now she faces another charge - also for voluntarily causing hurt - for abetting Khamis Abas, in causing hurt to Mdm Kamisah in April. Khamis Abas is Mdm Kamisah's second husband and Siti's father.

The second new charge is for slapping Khamis Abas on his face.

Darwinder appeared in court on Friday morning, after being remanded for one week for further investigations.

Darwinder told the court that he intends to apply for legal aid. He also pleaded with the judge to grant him bail, as his mother suffers from heart problems and he is her sole caregiver. "Please help me", he said to District Judge Janet Wong.

He will be remanded for a further two weeks at the Institute of Mental Health for a psychiatric evaluation, and will next appear in court on Aug 14.

The case came to public attention on Jul 20, when the video of the elderly woman being slapped was posted online by another neighbour, Mohd Juani Ali. Later that night, the Ministry of Social and Family Development said it was "looking into" the video. Mr Mohd Juani later told Channel NewsAsia that the abuse could have gone on for the past six months.