By DANE LILLINGSTONE
TWO parents who punished their young daughter by rubbing chillies in her hands and putting it in her food have escaped immediate jail time.
In a busy week for Warwick District Court, the court heard of how the girl had dermatitis on her hands which caused the skin to split.
Her mother and stepfather would punish the girl by rubbing chillies into her skin and hit her hands with wooden rods.
The girl complained to a school teacher and police were then involved.
She told police her mother had got the chillies from the garden, her stepfather then cut them in half, forced her to eat half and rubbed the other half into her skin.
He was also said to have put some up her nose.
The ongoing abuse included the parents putting chillies, curry and pepper in the girl’s dinner.
The stepfather also choked the girl by sitting on her and covering her mouth.
The mother of the girl was also said to have went into the girl’s room with a knife and jabbed at her leg, causing a wound, and threw a wooden spoon at her head.
Both parents were sentenced to 12 months jail but the term was suspended for three years.
The girl was removed from the couples care.
