Singaporean mother charged with murdering her autistic son

Singapore – 42-year-old Koh Sook Hoon was charged Monday with killing her 7-year-old son with autism. According to local media and officials the body was found at the end of their high-rise public housing block. The boy had lived with his parents, grandparents, and 12-year-old brother on the ninth floor of said high-rise for over five years.

Local newspaper The Straits Times reported that Hoon was remanded for psychiatric treatment. It also, along with other local news media sources, said her son was believed to have been autistic, a learning difference that affects about 31,000 people in the country according to Singapore based non-profit Autism Resource Center.

Surprisingly, many women of the nation are sympathetic and are pleading that Hoon be spared of the death penalty she’ll be sentenced if she is found guilty. AsiaOne first reported on the shocking reaction and found these comments on The Straits Times Facebook page:

“I think she needs mental evaluation, counseling and long-term treatment but not the death penalty,”

wrote Facebook user Felix Clarice while another user, Mabell Ong added:

“It’s never easy to be a mum and the task is made almost impossible when one has a special needs child.”

To read more on this tragic event, the original article on the AsiaOne Singapore website can be found here

Contributed by Audrey L Hollingsworth