Teen who punched 15-year-old’s stomach to end pregnancy gets probation

SINGAPORE - A teen who was 14 years old when he got his girlfriend pregnant and instigated her to bury their stillborn baby was sentenced to 21 months’ probation on Feb 7.

He had been convicted in December 2023 of sexual penetration of a minor and abetting her to conceal the birth by burying the child.

The teen, who is now 18 and doing his national service, cannot be named as he was a minor at the time of his offences.

As part of his sentence, he has to perform 100 hours of community service. His Internet-enabled devices will also be monitored and checked by his parents and probation officer.

The Straits Times understands that the girl has been given a conditional warning for her role in the case.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gan Ee Kiat said the teenagers were secondary school classmates and began a romantic relationship in May 2020.

The offender was 14 years old, while the victim was 15 at the time.

They would have sex in the boy’s bedroom, which he shared with his brother, when the latter was not at home.

The prosecutor said the offender did not use condoms as he found it difficult to buy them because of his age.

In January 2021, the girl suspected she was pregnant as she was feeling nauseous and had missed her period. The boy then bought a pregnancy test kit online for her.

When the girl found out she was pregnant, she told her boyfriend but concealed the news from her family.

The pair agreed to abort the foetus on their own and used various methods which they had found online.

These included the girl taking abortion pills, which her boyfriend purchased online. The girl also inserted a clothes hanger into her body in an attempt to pull the foetus out.

With the girl’s consent, the offender punched and kneed her stomach in an attempt to end the pregnancy.

These methods failed and, in June 2021, the victim gave birth to a stillborn son alone in her bedroom as her boyfriend watched through a video call.

After the delivery, the girl cut the umbilical cord with a pair of scissors. The offender told her to cut the placenta into small pieces and flush it down the toilet bowl.

He also told her to bury the foetus.

The girl wrapped the body in newspaper and hid it in her cabinet, but her boyfriend said it was inappropriate and risky to keep it in the house.

Two days later, she buried the body in the garden of her home and would sit there to grieve from time to time.

The couple ended their relationship in March 2022.

In April 2022, the girl’s mother found that she was exceptionally quiet and asked if anything was wrong. The girl told her mother what had happened and a police report was made.

The buried foetus was recovered by the police during investigations.

In mitigation, defence lawyers Choo Si Sen and Choo Yean Lin said their client committed these offences due to his immature age and on the spur of the moment.

They added that he had achieved good academic results and wanted to move on with his life.

For abetting the concealment of birth by secret disposal of a body, an offender can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.

For sexual penetration of a minor, an offender can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

ALSO READ: Teen found guilty of impregnating 15-year-old, instigating her to bury stillborn child

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