A man who beat his 11-year-old daughter because she failed to obey his command to exercise, was fined $10,000 or six months in prison when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday.

The father was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm.

Allegations are that on July 2, around 2 p.m., the accused told his daughter to exercise, however, she stopped to drink some water.

It is alleged that the accused pushed the child to the ground and hit her repeatedly.

The court heard that residents who saw what was happening, later reported the matter to the police.

The father told the court that the reason he instructed his daughter to exercise was because she is overweight.

The child, who the court heard resides overseas, was on vacation and staying with her father.