Mother charged over death of 8-month-old boy, father charged with failing to protect him

SINGAPORE: A 21-year-old woman was on Tuesday (Sep 3) charged over the death of her eight-month-old son, while the 25-year-old father of the boy was charged with failing to protect the infant.
Chloe Gan Ci Xuan and Neo Jia Ming were each handed a charge under Section 304C, for causing or allowing the death of a child below 14 in their household.
They were remanded and appeared in court via video link. No gag order was imposed.
Gan is accused of causing the death of Trevor Neo Yu Hin as a result of an unspecified “unlawful act” at a flat in Block 210, Hougang Street 21, on Sep 1.
The charge sheet stated that Gan, the mother, ought to have been aware of a significant risk of grievous hurt being caused to her son, “by virtue of the nature and intensity” of her “unlawful act” on him.
Neo, the father, was accused of failing to take reasonable steps to protect his son from Gan’s unlawful act, with the boy dying as a result.
Records show that Gan and Neo were married on Aug 2, 2023.
The police prosecutor asked for the parents to be remanded for three weeks, pointing out that the charges are triable in the High Court.
Both Gan and Neo were remanded and their cases will be mentioned again on Sep 24.
The police said in an earlier statement that they had been alerted to the case at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in the early hours of Sep 2. The parents of the boy were later arrested.
If convicted of allowing the death of a child below the age of 14 in his household, Neo can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
Gan faces the same penalties for allowing the death of a child in her household, except she cannot be caned as she is a woman.