SINGAPORE: A three-year-old girl who had severe bruises on her ear told a teacher at her kindergarten that she had been accidentally hurt by her brother at home which is why its teachers did not act immediately, the school said on Monday (Mar 12) in response to reports about the incident.
Police are investigating the case that happened on Feb 14 after the girl's mother lodged a police report. She shared the incident on social media on Saturday.
Her mother, Ms Claudia Kwan, said that none of the teachers could provide an explanation when she called the school.
However, the kindergarten the girl attends said that her teachers were under the impression that she got both a bruise under her eye and the bruise on her ear at home.
The school said that a teacher conducting daily health checks on Feb 14 discovered bruises below the eye of the girl.
"When asked, (her) mother was aware of the bruises and explained it was caused by an accident at home involving (her) brother," the school said in a statement.
AdvertisementAdvertisementTwo hours later in the kindergarten, another teacher found bruises on the girl's ear, which were hidden beneath her hair.
"(She) claimed she had been accidentally hurt by her brother at home," the statement said. "As (her) explanation of the bruises on her ear seemed consistent with her mother’s account of the bruises below her eye that morning, we did not take immediate action to inform the mother on the new-found bruises."
The kindergarten said that the girl's mother called the school later that day to ask if the bruises on her daughter’s ear could have been caused during her time at the kindergarten.
"We told her that (she) had behaved normally in school and we were not aware of any incident or circumstances at the kindergarten that could have caused those bruises on her ear," the school said.
It also found no incident or circumstances that could have caused the injuries from CCTV footage or interviews with members of the staff. It has been fully cooperating with the police on its investigations, the school added.
"We also note that (she) returned to kindergarten on the next day and enjoyed the Chinese New Year celebrations with her friends," it said.
However, Ms Kwan shared in her Facebook post that her daughter was showing signs of trauma and was seeing a counsellor. She has taken her daughter out of the pre-school.
"She has been shouting out her form teacher’s name too. This has been going on every night for the past few weeks, and it pains me deeply to see my daughter in such trauma," Ms Kwan wrote.
The school added that it has communicated with all the pupils' parents to reassure them.
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