Recently, it was reported that a dad of 2 had kicked and pushed a 5-year-old boy at an indoor playground in Yishun.
The mother of the boy had lodged a police report. A police spokesman has told Stomp that the man in the video has been identified, adding:
"He is now assisting the police with investigations."
The video of the incident had gone viral. While, many agreed that the man had no right to hit the child, others opined that the boy kept provoking the man. And that, he shouldn't have been left unsupervised in the play area.
The incident had happened in Sunshine Childhood Playland in NorthPoint City on April 9, 2018.
Now, the father of the boy, Mr. Luo, has clarified that his autistic son had only wanted to play with the man and his family.
“He isn’t a threat to them."
Mr Luo, told Shin Min Daily News that he had not expected so much criticism from the public. He hopes that people can be more tolerant towards children with special needs.
Mr. Luo said that the boy was his fourth child. He was diagnosed with autism as a toddler, when the family realised he was not responding when they called out to him.
Autistic child hitting others was just due to reflexes
Mr. Luo also said that his son was a playful child and that, he had been teaching him to behave in public for the last few years.
"Although he is autistic, it does not mean that he doesn’t like to interact with others. He’s actually a good kid and loves to play with other children.
“He isn’t a threat to them."
Regarding the incident, he said, "My son was going to hug him(the man) to gain his affirmation, so he could play with his kids. I can comprehend my child’s action but not everyone is the same. "
"For those who misunderstand, they may view it as an attack."
"As for the parts where my son hit the man, it is just due to his reflexes kicking in after getting pushed."
Apparently when his wife confronted the man after the incident, he had denied hitting him.
The child was unaware that he had got bullied, and did not complain either.
Mr. Luo said, "Throughout the whole incident, my son did not know that he was being bullied, and never complained to my wife at all."
But he complained of pain and the fierce playground uncle at night. That was when the family realised that something was wrong.
"It was only that night when he was taking a bath at home, that he told my wife that his abdomen and area around his groin were hurting.
"He told her that the 'uncle' at the playground was very fierce, and we all realised that something was wrong.
"We got in contact with the people running the playground to try and understand the situation."
The boy is fine now, and the matter is being looked into by the police.
(Source: Stomp)