Mum: I did not check on her as she always cried loudly
Child beaten to death after father found her playing with his cigarettes. -TNP
Tue, Oct 20, 2009
The New Paper
By Vivien Chan
The body of Nikie, seen in a file picture, being carried into a cemetery by her uncle.
Child beaten to death after father found her playing with his cigarettes. -TNP
Tue, Oct 20, 2009
The New Paper
By Vivien Chan
The body of Nikie, seen in a file picture, being carried into a cemetery by her uncle.
HE STARTED shouting when he saw his broken cigarettes on the living room floor. Sallehan Allaudin was so angry at his baby daughter, Nikie, for playing with his cigarettes that he continued shouting at her for several minutes. Then he slapped her.
His wife, Madam Rozanah Mohamed Yusoff, said she didn't intervene because the beating did not appear harsh. "Normally, after scolding the children, he would calm them down and treat them as per normal," she said.
"It didn't occur to me that this incident would happen. "I was thinking this is the way of disciplining the child, because the child did make a mistake." Mistake or not, the child, not yet 2, paid with her life.
Following the slap, her husband had allegedly gone on to kick and stomp on the toddler, whose full name is Natalie Nikie Alisyia Sallehan. It happened on 6 Jan this year.
Sallehan Allaudin, 27, is now on trial for Nikie's murder. He also faces one count of sexually penetrating the toddler's anus with an unknown object and another count of ill-treating her on that day.
Speaking through a Malay interpreter, Madam Rozanah, 24, a prosecution witness, said that after Sallehan slapped Nikie, she took a broom to sweep up the six or seven sticks of broken cigarettes.
Halfway through the clean up, she went into the bedroom to check on their two younger daughters, who were crying. Nikie was still "crying very loudly", but she did not think there was anything strange about it.
She said: "Nikie had always been crying loudly, even without us beating her. When she cried, she would cry loudly." Then, when she came out of the bedroom, she saw Sallehan and Nikie in the kitchen.
Using a dummy, Madam Rozanah demonstrated to the court Nikie's posture at that time. Nikie was about 78cm tall and weighed about 10kg. She showed how Nikie was seated on the floor, bent forward until her left shoulder was touching the floor. Her head was down, with her left cheek also touching the floor.
Madam Rozanah added that Sallehan, who is about 173cm tall and weighed about 62kg, was standing beside the girl. She then demonstrated how she saw her husband allegedly kick their daughter with the top of his foot, stomp on her and kick the left side of her back with his bare foot. He disputes her version of the incident.
"I quickly attended to Nikie when I saw her father step and kick her," she said, adding that the whole incident, from the time Sallehan slapped Nikie, lasted about five minutes.
Not breathing
An ambulance was called, but by then, the girl had already turned blue. The court heard that she had no pulse, no blood pressure and was not breathing.
Nikie had multiple bruises on her face, neck, arms, legs and the back of the body. She was also bleeding from her nose and was pronounced dead at the National University Hospital at 9.30pm that day.
She was just three weeks away from her second birthday. Sallehan was arrested soon after.
Madam Rozanah told the court that on the day Nikie died, she and Sallehan had left the three baby girls alone in their rental flat at Block 191, Boon Lay Drive while they went on an hour-long shopping trip in Jurong.
Madam Rozanah also has an 8-year-old son from a previous marriage, but he does not live with her. Nikie's sisters were then 1 year old, and 2 months old. It was not the first time the couple had left their children alone at home.
Madam Rozanah said that during the shopping trip, Sallehan had bought a Barbie doll for Nikie's birthday. He also bought another doll for their middle child, "to be fair". When they returned to the flat around 7.30pm, Nikie was in the living room, while her sisters were crying in the bedroom.
Madam Rozanah said her husband entered the flat while she stayed outside to "arrange the slippers first". "When he (Sallehan) entered the house, he started shouting. He was in the living room," said MadamRozanah.
Yesterday, Madam Rozanah, who avoided eye-contact with her husband in court, described Nikie as a "naughty but intelligent" child.
Though she could say only "one or two words" at 23 months, she knew how to "point to the things" she wanted. For example, if she wanted to eat, she would point to the food," said Madam Rozanah.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel N Kanagavijayan, Madam Rozanah recalled how Nikie played with her faeces. "There were occasions when her (diapers) were heavy and they were accidentally taken off her, and she would play with the faeces," she said. The toddler also once spoilt Madam Rozanah's handphone.
When asked if Nikie had previous injuries, MadamRozanah said that Nikie had a bad fall at a fast-food outlet in Jurong West in early December 2008. "It was a bench seat with no support to the back. Nikie lost her balance and fell back," she said. The girl suffered a swelling on her head.
Madam Rozanah's mother, Madam Noraini Ibrahim, also took the stand yesterday. She described Sallehan as a loving father. She said: "He loves all his children very much, including Nikie."
She added that Madam Rozanah never complained about her husband. When asked if she had seen Sallehan beating Nikie, Madam Noraini said she had seen him slap Nikie when the girl was naughty. "But it was just a slight slap..." she said. "I think that's quite all right because she was naughty and he was just telling her to behave. He usually slapped Nikie on her arm."
Madam Noraini said the day before Nikie's death, she was returning home from work when she saw Sallehan and the three children at the void deck of her Jurong West flat. Sallehan told her that Madam Rozanah had gone upstairs to collect a washed bed sheet.
Madam Noraini said that when she took Nikie upstairs, she saw a bite mark on the girl's arm. When she asked Madam Rozanah about it, the latter said that Sallehan had bitten the girl. Though the grandmother was "not very happy", she said she accepted the explanation and told her daughter to apply some ointment on the bite mark.
Madam Noraini's calm composure cracked when she was asked about Nikie's death. Crying, her voice choking with emotion, she said she was "shocked" to hear from her daughter that Nikie had died. She said: "I did ask her (Madam Rozanah) why he beat her. She told me it's because of the cigarettes. I was shocked, why to that extent?"
Madam Rozanah, who had maintained her calm while on the stand earlier, was seen dabbing her eyes with a tissue as she sat in the public gallery. When asked if she had asked her daughter for details about Nikie's death, Madam Noraini said: "We were overwhelmed by our emotions that night, so I did not dwell on that."
The trial continues.
His wife, Madam Rozanah Mohamed Yusoff, said she didn't intervene because the beating did not appear harsh. "Normally, after scolding the children, he would calm them down and treat them as per normal," she said.
"It didn't occur to me that this incident would happen. "I was thinking this is the way of disciplining the child, because the child did make a mistake." Mistake or not, the child, not yet 2, paid with her life.
Following the slap, her husband had allegedly gone on to kick and stomp on the toddler, whose full name is Natalie Nikie Alisyia Sallehan. It happened on 6 Jan this year.
Sallehan Allaudin, 27, is now on trial for Nikie's murder. He also faces one count of sexually penetrating the toddler's anus with an unknown object and another count of ill-treating her on that day.
Speaking through a Malay interpreter, Madam Rozanah, 24, a prosecution witness, said that after Sallehan slapped Nikie, she took a broom to sweep up the six or seven sticks of broken cigarettes.
Halfway through the clean up, she went into the bedroom to check on their two younger daughters, who were crying. Nikie was still "crying very loudly", but she did not think there was anything strange about it.
She said: "Nikie had always been crying loudly, even without us beating her. When she cried, she would cry loudly." Then, when she came out of the bedroom, she saw Sallehan and Nikie in the kitchen.
Using a dummy, Madam Rozanah demonstrated to the court Nikie's posture at that time. Nikie was about 78cm tall and weighed about 10kg. She showed how Nikie was seated on the floor, bent forward until her left shoulder was touching the floor. Her head was down, with her left cheek also touching the floor.
Madam Rozanah added that Sallehan, who is about 173cm tall and weighed about 62kg, was standing beside the girl. She then demonstrated how she saw her husband allegedly kick their daughter with the top of his foot, stomp on her and kick the left side of her back with his bare foot. He disputes her version of the incident.
"I quickly attended to Nikie when I saw her father step and kick her," she said, adding that the whole incident, from the time Sallehan slapped Nikie, lasted about five minutes.
Not breathing
An ambulance was called, but by then, the girl had already turned blue. The court heard that she had no pulse, no blood pressure and was not breathing.
Nikie had multiple bruises on her face, neck, arms, legs and the back of the body. She was also bleeding from her nose and was pronounced dead at the National University Hospital at 9.30pm that day.
She was just three weeks away from her second birthday. Sallehan was arrested soon after.
Madam Rozanah told the court that on the day Nikie died, she and Sallehan had left the three baby girls alone in their rental flat at Block 191, Boon Lay Drive while they went on an hour-long shopping trip in Jurong.
Madam Rozanah also has an 8-year-old son from a previous marriage, but he does not live with her. Nikie's sisters were then 1 year old, and 2 months old. It was not the first time the couple had left their children alone at home.
Madam Rozanah said that during the shopping trip, Sallehan had bought a Barbie doll for Nikie's birthday. He also bought another doll for their middle child, "to be fair". When they returned to the flat around 7.30pm, Nikie was in the living room, while her sisters were crying in the bedroom.
Madam Rozanah said her husband entered the flat while she stayed outside to "arrange the slippers first". "When he (Sallehan) entered the house, he started shouting. He was in the living room," said MadamRozanah.
Yesterday, Madam Rozanah, who avoided eye-contact with her husband in court, described Nikie as a "naughty but intelligent" child.
Though she could say only "one or two words" at 23 months, she knew how to "point to the things" she wanted. For example, if she wanted to eat, she would point to the food," said Madam Rozanah.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel N Kanagavijayan, Madam Rozanah recalled how Nikie played with her faeces. "There were occasions when her (diapers) were heavy and they were accidentally taken off her, and she would play with the faeces," she said. The toddler also once spoilt Madam Rozanah's handphone.
When asked if Nikie had previous injuries, MadamRozanah said that Nikie had a bad fall at a fast-food outlet in Jurong West in early December 2008. "It was a bench seat with no support to the back. Nikie lost her balance and fell back," she said. The girl suffered a swelling on her head.
Madam Rozanah's mother, Madam Noraini Ibrahim, also took the stand yesterday. She described Sallehan as a loving father. She said: "He loves all his children very much, including Nikie."
She added that Madam Rozanah never complained about her husband. When asked if she had seen Sallehan beating Nikie, Madam Noraini said she had seen him slap Nikie when the girl was naughty. "But it was just a slight slap..." she said. "I think that's quite all right because she was naughty and he was just telling her to behave. He usually slapped Nikie on her arm."
Madam Noraini said the day before Nikie's death, she was returning home from work when she saw Sallehan and the three children at the void deck of her Jurong West flat. Sallehan told her that Madam Rozanah had gone upstairs to collect a washed bed sheet.
Madam Noraini said that when she took Nikie upstairs, she saw a bite mark on the girl's arm. When she asked Madam Rozanah about it, the latter said that Sallehan had bitten the girl. Though the grandmother was "not very happy", she said she accepted the explanation and told her daughter to apply some ointment on the bite mark.
Madam Noraini's calm composure cracked when she was asked about Nikie's death. Crying, her voice choking with emotion, she said she was "shocked" to hear from her daughter that Nikie had died. She said: "I did ask her (Madam Rozanah) why he beat her. She told me it's because of the cigarettes. I was shocked, why to that extent?"
Madam Rozanah, who had maintained her calm while on the stand earlier, was seen dabbing her eyes with a tissue as she sat in the public gallery. When asked if she had asked her daughter for details about Nikie's death, Madam Noraini said: "We were overwhelmed by our emotions that night, so I did not dwell on that."
The trial continues.
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