Dad escapes death sentence in beating death of 1-year-old daughter; killed her for "playing with his cigarettes" (Singapore)

UNNAMED DAD really looooved his little girl, he really, really did. That's why he's getting his murder charge reduced to culpable homicide. Like the kids say, whatever.

Daddy Dearest beat a one-month-old baby to death for "playing with his cigarettes." But he didn't MEAN to kill her, you see. He just "lost control." And playing up all this sentimental nonsense about how he bought her a doll for her birthday. So what? Honestly, how stupid can people get.

Had this been a mother, she would have been tarred as Ms. Evil Incarnate.

http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100318-0000097/Father-escapes-death-sentence

Father escapes death sentence
He loved the girl and had no intention of killing her: Judge
by Ong Dai Lin dailin@mediacorp.com.sg Updated 01:30 PM Mar 18, 2010

SINGAPORE - A 28-year-old father, who caused his year-old daughter's death when he beat her, escaped the gallows yesterday when his murder charge was reduced to that of culpable homicide.

There was no evidence that the cleaner, who cannot be named to protect his other children, had intended to cause the death of his daughter when he beat her up, said Justice Lee Seiu Kin in his judgment.

On Jan 6 last year, the cleaner went to the supermarket with his wife to buy groceries. He also picked up a Barbie doll as a present for his daughter's second birthday. But when he got home, enraged to find his daughter playing with his cigarettes, he took her into the kitchen where he slapped and punched her on the arm and back.

His daughter then collapsed and died because one of her major veins, the inferior vena cava, ruptured. This caused blood to collect inside her heart sac, preventing it from pumping.

Justice Lee said that while there was no question that the injuries caused the girl's death, the cleaner loved the girl and did not intend to kill her when he beat her. He had walked into the flat "feeling rather pleased with himself for buying the doll and was keen to hand it" to his daughter. He lost his cool when he saw her playing with his cigarettes.

"He thought he was beating her to teach her a lesson but lost control in the heat of the moment and went well beyond what was justified," said Justice Lee.

But the judge also said that when the cleaner inflicted the injuries, "he knew or ought reasonably to know" that they were likely to cause his daughter's death. He will be sentenced at a later date.