A two-month-old baby died after suffering weeks of abuse by her parents. The mother inflicted fatal head injuries that led to the infant being pronounced brain dead on January 13, 2023.
Sim Liang Xiu, 31, and Peh Wei Jian, 34, were sentenced to jail on April 2 for the death of their biological daughter, Zabelle Peh Yu Xuan. Sim received eight years in jail while Peh was sentenced to seven years.
The couple’s abuse of Zabelle began shortly after her birth on November 6, 2022. Text messages shown in court revealed they were beating her when she was less than two weeks old.
On November 18, 2022, in the earliest messages presented in court, Peh told his wife to “try” not to beat the baby.
Sim admitted to slapping the baby’s face, pulling and biting her left arm, and forcefully dropping her into the cot. Peh admitted to forcefully pushing the tip of a milk bottle into the baby’s mouth, pinching and slapping her, and throwing her into the cot.
Court documents state that on January 8, 2023, Sim threw Zabelle into a cot because she was upset with the baby for soiling herself. This caused blunt force trauma to the infant’s head.
The next morning, Peh found the infant unresponsive after bathing her. The couple planned to lie to authorities before calling an ambulance.
Medical examinations revealed the infant had suffered multiple areas of bleeding in her brain, a healed rib fracture, a healed fracture of her left upper arm bone, and new bone formation in her right upper arm bone.
An autopsy found that Zabelle had sustained an 11cm skull fracture and bleeding around her brain. She was pronounced brain dead on January 13, 2023.
While initially claiming Peh had accidentally dropped the baby in the shower, the couple later admitted to their abuse.
Messages between them showed Peh was aware of the violence. In one message, Sim stated: “Dun act like you never abuse la I want to make her die also not your problem.”
Sim, initially charged with murder, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder after being diagnosed with post-natal depression.
Justice Dedar Singh Gill noted that it was “difficult for a sentient person to fathom the cruelty inflicted on Zabelle.”
The judge rejected the portrayal of Peh as a victim of domestic abuse and found that his culpability was high. Justice Gill called Peh’s messages to Sim asking her not to hurt the baby “plainly inadequate.”
Sim and Peh were arrested on January 12, 2023, and have been in custody since.
