A husband and wife were jailed today for the manslaughter of their baby, who died after they chose to use homeopathic remedies rather than conventional medicine to treat her severe skin disorder.
Thomas Sam, 42,a lecturer in homeopathy, and his wife Manju, 37, of Sydney, were convicted in June after the death of their nine-month-old daughter Gloria from septicaemia and malnutrition in May 2002. The parents had faced a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. The New South Wales state supreme court justice, Peter Johnson, ordered Thomas Sam to serve at least six years in jail, with a maximum sentence of eight years, and Manju to serve at least four years in jail with a maximum of five years and four months.
Johnson said there was a "wide chasm" between the couple's approach and the action a reasonable parent would have taken. Thomas Sam's "arrogant approach" to his preference for homeopathy and Manju Sam's deference to her husband led to their daughter's death, he said.
Prosecutors said Thomas Sam continued to consult homeopaths and natural medicine practitioners after his daughter was diagnosed at four months old. Her health continued to deteriorate and her black hair turned white.
Gloria became malnourished by battles against infections that invaded her bloodstream through skin broken by rashes.
Her parents finally took her to a hospital and doctors gave her morphine and began treating an eye infection that had started to melt her corneas. She died three days later.