Man jailed after twice shoving boy, 7, who hit his daughter at indoor playground

The incident occurred at a mall's indoor playground.

Koh Gek Kuan arriving at the State Courts on Oct 23, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Ooi Boon Keong)

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SINGAPORE: Enraged after a seven-year-old boy struck his young daughter in the face at an indoor playground, a man shoved the child to the ground twice.

Koh Gek Kuan, 44, was jailed for 80 days on Friday (Oct 23) after earlier pleading guilty to a count of voluntarily causing hurt to a child below 14 years old. Another charge of the same nature was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

The name of the boy, then seven, and the indoor playground where the incident occurred cannot be revealed due to a gag order imposed by the court.

On Aug 18, 2023, Koh was at the indoor playground in a mall with his daughter, then four.

At about 7.22pm, Koh's daughter chased the boy with an object while Koh trailed behind. The boy then hit his daughter in the face.

Seeing this, Koh charged towards the boy, who did not see him coming. The accused shoved the boy, causing the toys in the boy's hands to fly across the room as he fell face down.

The incident was witnessed by other patrons and staff members at the playground.

As the boy sat up from the floor, Koh confronted him again and forcefully pushed him.

The boy fell, with his head and left shoulder striking the floor.

Koh also swore at the boy and behaved aggressively towards the playground staff and patrons who later approached him. While Koh initially contested these facts at a subsequent hearing, the court found that he had uttered the vulgarity and behaved aggressively.

Compiled footage from cameras within the indoor playground capturing the incident was submitted to court.

The boy's parents brought him to hospital for a medical examination, which found that he had bruises on his head and knee, and redness on his right cheek.

In mitigation, lawyer Shaneet Nityanand Rai from Kalidass Law Corporation sought nine to 12 weeks' jail for his client, a self-employed IT business owner.

Mr Rai said Koh was remorseful and regretted his disproportionate reaction. He urged the court to consider his client's position as a parent and the difficulty of "restraining himself from reacting when an older boy hurt his then four-year-old daughter on her birthday".

The defence lawyer said Koh had brought his daughter to the playground for her fourth birthday.

"What was supposed to be a joyous occasion for the family, with a planned dinner thereafter ... turned into a nightmare of a weekend for Mr Koh and his family, as much as it was a traumatising experience for the victim," Mr Rai said.

According to the defence, the boy had snatched a toy bus from Koh's daughter and then hit her on the head. Koh initially dismissed the incident as children playing, but became more watchful because the boy appeared older and bigger than his daughter.

His daughter then chased the boy for the toy bus, after which he struck her in the face.

Koh then overreacted by pushing the boy. Mr Rai said Koh asked the boy where his parents were, but the boy did not understand him.

The boy's lack of reaction upset Koh further, prompting him to push the boy a second time in a further moment of folly, Mr Rai said.

The lawyer also detailed his client's mental health history of bipolar disorder, although he noted that this had no contributory or causal link to the incident.

"Koh’s prior mental health condition did impact his assessment and the way in which he views his daughter and his protective nature over her.

"We are instructed that Koh’s mental health condition initially started out because of his own negative experiences with his father, wherein he was abused as a child. He would be repeatedly hit by his father and this led him to become an overly protective father," Mr Rai said.

The defence also pointed out that there was no indication that the boy's injuries were permanent or had left any after-effects.

For voluntarily causing hurt, an offender may be jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.

For committing the offence against a victim under 14, an offender may be jailed up to twice the maximum punishment.

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事件发生在一家购物中心的室内游乐场。

许玉娟于2026年10月23日抵达国家法院。（图片：CNA/Ooi Boon Keong）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：一名男子在室内游乐场看到一名七岁男孩打了他年幼的女儿的脸后勃然大怒，两次将孩子推倒在地。

44岁的许克坤（Koh Gek Kuan）于周五（10月23日）被判入狱80天，此前他已承认一项故意伤害14岁以下儿童的罪名。另一项性质相同的指控在量刑时被考虑在内。

由于法院下达了禁言令，因此不能透露当时年仅七岁的男孩的姓名以及事发的室内游乐场的名称。

2023年8月18日，Koh带着他当时四岁的女儿在商场的室内游乐场玩耍。

晚上7点22分左右，Koh的女儿拿着一个东西追赶那个男孩，Koh则跟在后面。随后，男孩打了他女儿的脸。

见状，Koh 冲向男孩，男孩毫无防备。被告推搡男孩，男孩手中的玩具散落一地，他脸朝下摔倒在地。

游乐场的其他游客和工作人员目睹了这起事件。

男孩从地上坐起来后，Koh再次与他对峙，并用力推了他一把。

男孩摔倒了，头部和左肩撞击地面。

Koh还辱骂了那名男孩，并对后来上前询问的游乐场工作人员和游客表现出攻击性。虽然Koh在随后的庭审中最初否认了这些事实，但法庭认定他确实说了粗俗的话，并且行为具有攻击性。

警方已将室内游乐场内监控摄像头拍摄到的事件视频汇编提交给法庭。

男孩的父母带他到医院进行体检，结果发现他的头部和膝盖有瘀伤，右脸颊发红。

作为减刑理由，来自 Kalidass 律师事务所的律师 Shaneet Nityanand Rai 为他的委托人（一名自雇 IT 企业主）请求判处 9 至 12 周的监禁。

赖先生表示，许先生对自己的过激反应感到懊悔。他恳请法庭考虑其当事人作为父亲的处境，以及“当一个大男孩在女儿生日当天伤害了当时年仅四岁的她时，他难以克制自己不做出过激反应”的艰难处境。

辩护律师称，许某带女儿来游乐场是为了庆祝她四岁生日。

“原本应该是家人欢聚一堂的欢乐时光，之后还计划了晚餐……结果却变成了许先生及其家人噩梦般的周末，对受害者来说也是一次令人痛苦的经历，”赖先生说。

辩方称，男孩抢走了许女士女儿的玩具巴士，然后用玩具击打她的头部。许女士起初认为这只是孩子们玩耍，但后来因为男孩看起来比女儿年纪更大、个子更高，便开始提高警惕。

随后，他的女儿追着男孩抢玩具巴士，结果被男孩打了脸。

随后，Koh反应过度，推搡了男孩。Rai先生说，Koh问男孩他的父母在哪里，但男孩听不懂。

赖先生说，男孩没有反应让许先生更加恼火，一时冲动，他又一次推了男孩一把。

律师还详细介绍了他的委托人患有双相情感障碍的精神健康史，但他指出，这与该事件没有任何促成或因果关系。

“Koh之前的精神健康状况确实影响了他对女儿的评估，以及他对女儿的看法和对女儿的保护欲。

“据我们了解，Koh的精神健康状况最初源于他与父亲的负面经历，他童年时期曾遭受父亲虐待。他经常被父亲殴打，这导致他后来成为一个过度保护女儿的父亲，”Rai先生说。

辩方还指出，没有迹象表明男孩的伤势是永久性的，也没有留下任何后遗症。

故意伤人罪的最高刑罚为三年监禁或罚款 5000 新元，或两者并罚。

如果对 14 岁以下的受害者实施犯罪，犯罪者可被判处最高刑罚的两倍监禁。

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