A 35-year-old man in Singapore was sentenced to 21.5 years in jail and 18 strokes of the cane on Sep. 19 after he pleaded guilty to killing his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter and burning her body in a metal pot.

He had committed the crime with his wife, and they were trying to hide the girl's death, which they did for some five years.

Gag order imposed

The convicted man cannot be named due to gag orders to protect the surviving victims.

The wife cannot be identified and the location of the killing cannot be revealed due to the gag orders imposed.

However, the judge allowed the victim's first name, Umaisyah, to be published.

The judge said he did not want her to be identified merely as "the deceased" or "the victim", and for her to be remembered by her name instead.

Charges

The man pleaded guilty to one count of culpable homicide not amounting to murder by causing his daughter's death and failing to get her medical help.

He also pleaded guilty to three charges, including rioting, ill-treating his step-son by punching his body and hand, and consuming methamphetamine.

Five other charges were considered during sentencing.

The couple have since divorced.

What happened

The offender and his then-wife had four children of their own.

Their offspring included the 2.5-year-old victim, who was born in 2011.

The woman had a daughter and a son from a previous marriage.

Girl unfamiliar with own parents

The victim, Umaisyah, was placed in foster care in November 2011 when she was three to four months old.

At that time, her father was sent to a drug rehabilitation centre and her mother was assessed to be unable to care for her.

Some 1.5 years later, in June 2013, the girl was returned to her parents.

She had not turned two years old.

She would often cry as her parents were not familiar to her, the prosecution said.

She had by then already spent 1.5 years in foster care.

Abused by own parents

Umaisyah was abused by her parents.

Her father would hit her with a belt or a hanger, and would punch h...