SINGAPORE — A 35-year-old Singaporean woman is scheduled to plead guilty in March to multiple charges related to the abuse of her two stepchildren, including confining them in a toilet for months, court records show. The charges also include giving false information to police about being assaulted by her then-husband. 

At a pre-trial conference on 9 January, the State Courts set 13 March 2026 as the date for the woman to enter her guilty plea. The woman’s name has been withheld to protect the identities of the victims, including the surviving boy. She faces six charges, which stem from conduct occurring between October 2016 and August 2017. 

According to the charge sheet, the woman — together with her then-husband — ill-treated the children by barricading them in a small corner of a room and, subsequently, confining them naked in a toilet for an extended period. The young daughter was later found dead and malnourished in 2017, and the children’s father was previously sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the abuse and death of the girl. 

Prosecutors also allege the woman provided false statements to police on multiple occasions in an attempt to mislead investigations, claiming that her then-husband had assaulted her under circumstances that investigators later found to be untrue. 

If convicted of the ill-treatment charges, she faces up to four years’ imprisonment and/or a fine for each count. For the offences of giving false information to public servants, penalties include up to one year’s imprisonment and/or a fine for each offence. 

The case, one of Singapore’s most serious recent child abuse matters, has drawn public attention to the legal consequences of prolonged abuse and the importance of safeguarding vulnerable children.