MONTHS after a four-year-old had chilli padi smeared over his mouth by his childcare centre teacher, he still woke up in the middle of the night screaming: 'I don't want chilli.'

According to the mother of the boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, her son had nightmares for months after the incident in May last year.

The ill-treatment also caused him to have eight ulcers in his mouth and he could eat only cold food for a few weeks after that, she said.

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