Stepmother of 5-year-old girl who was beaten to death by father gets jail for child abuse

The girl, named as Ayeesha by the High Court so that “society may remember her”, had been confined naked in a toilet with her younger brother for almost 10 months before her death, as part of several “naughty corners” devised by the offenders. 

The children suffered almost two years of abuse and neglect, eating their own faeces and parts of a mattress out of hunger. They were not taken to school, with their father giving various lies to the authorities about their attendance, while the stepmother’s own children went.

Ayeesha died of a head injury in August 2017 after her stepmother complained about the children to their father, and the father responded by slapping the girl repeatedly such that her head tilted back awkwardly.

He carried out a second round of assault in the toilet where the naked children were confined after the stepmother complained about them again, this time punching both. He administered additional kicks, stamps and slaps on the girl, who later died in the toilet.

After the couple realised that Ayeesha was dead, they planned how to cover up the death. As part of the plan, the stepmother filed a police report claiming her husband had beaten and raped her, a lie she continued to perpetuate even in her High Court testimony during her husband’s trial.

The father, then a 45-year-old man, was sentenced to life imprisonment last year, after failing in an appeal to reduce his 35-year jail term.

A gag order protecting the surviving brother, who is a year younger than Ayeesha, means the offenders cannot be named. The district court on Friday maintained the High Court’s practice of lifting part of the gag order in order to allow publication of Ayeesha’s first name. 

Ayeesha’s brother was also seen by doctors after the case was uncovered and was found to be severely malnourished, dehydrated and with a weight lower than the third percentile of kids his age.

He was also found to be suffering from global developmental delay with social deprivation as a factor, was socially withdrawn and was unable to speak or stand on his own. 

Videos previously shown in court showed Ayeesha’s brother looking on quietly while a fearful Ayeesha was being assaulted. In another clip, the kids appeared expressionless and listless, moving only when their stepmother told them to.