Mom jailed for 3 years for burning child's hand on tawah

Kamla Ramcharn - jailed for burning child's hand on hot Tawah. (Guardian photo)

A woman who burned her daughter's hand on a hot Tawah was on Monday jailed for three three years for what Magistrate Gillian David-Scotland described as a "heinous act". 
(A Tawah is a round iron disc for making roti (flatbread). It is usually placed on a stove and heated in order to bake the roti)

Kamla Ramcharan, 29, the mother of four, admitted that she burnt the hand of her eight-year-old daughter as punishment for allegedly stealing money from a classmate. The magistrate said, “That is a heinous way to punish a child. This is the child you gave birth to.” 

Police prosecutor Sgt. Jackman told the court on June 14 the child was at school when she was accused of stealing money from a classmate. The prosecutor said although the child denied stealing her mother placed her daughter’s left hand on the hot tawah. 

The child tried to pull away but was overpowered by the mother, the court head. The woman then tried to burn the child's hand in the open flames. The little girl suffered severe burns and was treated at the Paediatric Ward of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mt Hope.

Sgt. Susan John testified that when she questioned the woman at her home on June 21, Ramcharan said, “I not sorry for what I did. I sure she not going to steal again.” At that point police arrested and charged Ramcharan.

The magistrate said she considered several issues in passing sentence, including the fact that the woman has to care for three other children and that she has a clean record. However she was bothered by Ramcharan's lack of remorse for what she did. The maximum penalty for such an offence is ten years.