KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — A child of the Malaysian couple charged in Sweden with hitting their children told the court yesterday that he was beaten by his mother over 1,000 times last year.
The child’s sibling also told the Solna district court in Stockholm in a video testimony that his mother had hit him with canes and a carpet cleaner, according to a news report by Astro Awani.
“I predict after this, my parents wouldn’t like me, wouldn’t love me,” one of the children of Shalwati Norshal and Azizul Raheem Awaluddin was quoted as saying by local daily The Star, when asked if his parents would find out about his interview with the police.
“I’m worried my parents will smack me if they find out I’m not in school,” he added.
The Star reported one of the children as describing various occasions when he was beaten - once when he was playing music loudly while doing his homework; another during an argument with his sister at a car ride to school; and another time while he was studying the Quran with his mother, Shalwati.
The child also reportedly said that Shalwati frequently hit him whenever he watched YouTube videos instead of joining the family for dinner, or whenever he talked back to her or stomped his feet.
One of the children was also reported by Astro Awani as saying that his father beat him over 100 times last year.
The child also accused Azizul of making him stand in a corner of the house for the whole day as punishment.
One of the children was reported by Swedish news portal The Local yesterday as saying that he was hit so often by his mother that the beatings no longer hurt.
Secondary school teacher Shalwati and Azizul, who is a Tourism Malaysia officer based in Stockholm, are charged with multiple counts of gross violation of their children’s integrity and assault.
Shalwati and Azizul are accused of hitting their four children - aged between seven and 14 years - at their home in Stockholm between September 15, 2010, and December 17, 2013.
They face between six months and six years’ jail for each charge.
The trial is set for 10 days until March 10.
The couple was detained on December 18 last year after being accused of beating their children for not praying.
Sweden, in 1979, was the first country in the world to outlaw corporal punishment.
