Stepmother whips 6-year-old child to death for wetting the bed

A woman in Bryan, Texas was arrested on Tuesday for whipping her 6-year-old stepdaughter to death with a metal-studded belt as punishment for wetting the bed. Jessica Bundren, 40, was charged with injury to a child resulting in death.

Police officers responded to a home in the 700 block of Garden Acres in Bryan past 9pm on Tuesday on a report of an unresponsive child. The child was described to have suffered from bruises on her face and legs, as well as welts and puncture marks on her torso.

Bundren initially told police that her stepdaughter had fallen down the stairs that evening and was sent to bed. She said she was breathing when she last checked on her.

Police officers reported they arrived at the home and found the girl under a sheet and laying on the floor of her bedroom. They observed visible injuries on the victim's face, head, upper torso and legs indicative that the child may have been subjected to a belting which left her covered in welts and puncture marks.

After searching the home, police say they found a belt that had a slit on the end with metal rivets which the officers say matched the injuries and marks on the girl's body.

According to an article on the Daily Mail, the suspect allegedly admitted to subjecting the child to physical discipline because she had wet her bed. She told the police that she whipped the child with the belt 6 times, one for each year of her life and then ordered her to sleep on the floor. She said she had no idea why she just stopped breathing.

Bundren is being held in the Brazos County Jail with a bail bond set at £116,000.

In a study Assessment of domestic violence against children and adolescents with enuresis published in the Journal of Paediatrics in September 2009, authors of the study interviewed 149 patients diagnosed with nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting at night).

Results revealed that 89% of subjects suffered either verbal or physical aggression when they wet their beds or wet themselves, with 50% being verbally disciplined and 48% physically punished. The study showed that the main abuser was usually the mother and that the risks of children exposed to such physical and verbal aggression is higher in children with less-educated parents.