Man comes clean on toddler's death

A MAN accused of child abuse and causing the death of a toddler last month has pleaded guilty to all charges held against him during a High Court proceedings held in the capital yesterday.

The defendant, Mohammad Zini Sulaiman, 27, is expected to be sentenced on January 7, at the High Court before Justice Dato Paduka Steven Chong who will be delivering the verdict.

According to the court document, Zini had been living with his girlfriend and her two daughters. They had lived together after the defendant asked his girlfriend to move in with him at his father's home in Kg Mumong sometime in 2010.

The victim was the girlfriend's second child aged two years and two months old at the time of death.

In the morning of December 15, 2011, Zini was awakened by the cries of the victim who had refused to take off her pyjamas to take a bath.

The victim's cries had angered the defendant and he immediately scolded the victim while in the presence of his girlfriend.

The defendant struck the victim's stomach repeatedly and strangled her neck. She was also thrown against the wall and on to the mattress. Zini had picked up the victim and shoved her towards a floor fan.

Zini then grabbed the crying victim by the hands and carried her over his shoulders to the bathroom and pushed the victim's head into the toilet bowl. His girlfriend had also followed him to the bathroom.

When the victim continued to cry and refused to take her bath, the defendant hit her body and strangled her neck. Zini's girlfriend intervened and told the defendant to stop hitting her daughter which led Zini to strike his girlfriend in the stomach.

That same morning, right after the defendant had taken a shower, Zini vented his anger once again on the victim who at the time had defecated on the mattress and on the pants that was worn by the defendant.

This time, Zini picked up the victim using his hand and grabbed her by the hair, repeatedly hitting her body, strangling her neck and dropped her by the mattress. He then kicked the victim at the stomach region. Thereafter, he ordered the victim's mother to clean up the mess whilst he took another shower.

Zini further hit the toddler again when the victim wrongly recited the prayers said before taking meals during breakfast.

Afterwards, Zini told everyone to get inside the car but the victim continued crying. The 27 year-old then told the victim that she could stay at home with her auntie and yet the victim still refused and continued crying out loud.

The defendant, in a fit of anger, then carried the victim back inside the house where he continued subjecting her to more assault on her body by punching and kicking and thereafter ordered her back into the car where they went for grocery shopping and a leisurely drive in Kuala Belait. Upon returning home, the victim vomited.

In the afternoon, the defendant, his girlfriend and her two daughters went for another leisurely drive in Seria. The defendant did ask the victim what was wrong and the victim said she had a stomach ache. Assuming that the victim was hungry, they all went to get something to eat. Nevertheless, the victim did not want to eat, instead she told the defendant that she was sleepy.

The victim's condition worsened when she vomited yet again as they were returning home that evening. They then brought the victim into his bedroom to rest. However, the victim could not sleep and continued crying.

The defendant who was angered upon seeing this, once again hit the victim on the shoulders and told her to go to sleep. The victim then asked for a glass of cold water and the defendant complied.

They also gave the victim some medication for her stomach ache along with milk and other drinks but the victim still vomited persistently whilst also continuing to cry throughout the night.

It was when the cries slowly dissipated that the victim's mother realised something horrible was happening to her daughter. Upon seeing this, the defendant decided to rush the victim to the hospital. But whilst on route, the victim's mother in a frantic state told the defendant that her child was no longer breathing.

Upon arrival at Suri Seri Begawan Hospital in Kuala Belait, the victim was pronounced "dead on arrival" by the attending Medical Officer on December 16, 2011 at 2.35am, who further noted that there were multiple bruise marks on the body and that she was in a state of rigor mortis.

Zini had initially informed the medical staff that the victim had fallen down the stairs. The hospital staff was suspicious and alerted the police.

The police from KB Police Station were notified of the death and consequently a team of police personnel went to the hospital to conduct further investigations.

The defendant and the victim's details were obtained and thereafter the Special Investigations Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department from the capital was brought in to conduct investigations.

A post-mortem was conducted by a Specialist Pathologist from Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital and established that the cause of death was from blood poisoning due to a rupture in the small intestine following the assault.

According to the report, death would have been "accelerated by aspiration (accidental sucking in fluids into the lungs) of Milk".

The defendant admitted to the police that he had excessively assaulted the victim throughout the day. The Brunei Times