Mother says Indiana's religious freedom laws gives her right to beat son with coat hanger

The evangelical Christian's seven-year-old son suffered 36 bruises on his arm

Kihn Par Thaing said she he had the right to raise her son as she choose (Indianapolis Metro Police Department)

Proverbs 13:24.

That is the biblical reference being cited by a mother from Indiana who has claimed the state’s religious freedom laws gave her the right to beat her seven-year-old son with a coat hanger.

Kihn Par Thaing, 30, an evangelical Christian, was arrested in February and charged with abuse and neglect after a teacher discovered 36 bruises and red welts on her son.


 The woman's son suffered 36 bruises (Marion County Superior Court )
 (Marion County Superior Court)

But Ms Thaing’s lawyer, Greg Bowes, has argued in a series of court filing that the state authorities should not interfere with his client’s right to raise to her child as she sees fit. He cited Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act as part of her defence, saying it gives her the right to discipline her children according to her beliefs, the Indianapolis Star reported.

He also cited the bible and its teaching that a parent who “spares the rod, spoils the child”. (The saying is actually a reworking of Proverbs 13:24 which says: “He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.”)

The Associated Press said that Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Matt Savage said the boy’s beating went “beyond these religious instructions” and that Indiana’s compelling interest in preventing child abuse outweighed religious protections in state law.

Indiana's religious objections law, signed by Republican Governor Mike Pence last year, prohibits government entities from substantially burdening religious liberties, unless by the least restrictive means to further a compelling government interest.

But nothing in the law specifically mentions parenting and the statute has not yet been substantially tested in the courts.

Mr Bowes also cited in his client’s defence, a 2008 Indiana Supreme Court decision that affirmed the parental right to discipline children in ways parents consider appropriate, even when others could deem that behaviour as excessive, the AP said.


 Mike Pence signed the bill into law last year 
 (AP)

According to court documents, Ms Thaing said she intervened after her son engaged in dangerous behavior that could have seriously harmed his three-year-old sister. She said she then hit both children with a plastic coat hanger before telling them to pray for forgiveness.

Child welfare officials took the children into their care in February, but it is unclear where they are now.

Ms Thaing, who faces a trial on October 19 trial, is a refugee from Burma, and cited cultural differences between the two countries as part of her defence.

Elaisa Vahnie, the executive director of the Burmese American Community Institute in Indianapolis, said what might be seen as a crime in Indiana may be considered typical parenting in Burma.

“Sometimes you use a stick to correct them (in Burma). That’s very normal,” she said.