Singapore man threatened to kill pregnant wife when she wanted to travel without him, gets jail for criminal intimidation

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - The court heard that the man has been violent towards his wife since 2016. He would punch, kick and choke her when he was frustrated at her over trivial matters. ― iStock pic

SINGAPORE, July 18 — Angry after his wife informed him of her plans to see her mother in Sri Lanka without him, a man threatened her, demanding she get an abortion, or he would kill her and the baby.

The next day, feeling even angrier, he threatened his wife again before he left for work.

Yesterday, the 36-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to seven months’ jail after pleading guilty to criminal intimidation to cause death.

A similar charge of criminal intimidation and two other charges of voluntarily causing hurt were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The couple, who have been married since 2014, cannot be named to protect the victim, who is now aged 36.

The court heard that the man has been violent towards his wife since 2016. He would punch, kick and choke her when he was frustrated at her over trivial matters.

The wife did not retaliate and did not seek medical attention during the abuse from 2016 to 2017.

The assaults continued in 2018 and he injured her in areas that were generally covered up by her clothing to evade detection.

The wife started taking photographs of her injuries and made multiple police reports against him from 2018, including calling the police for help.

On Dec 25 in 2018, at about 10.50am, she called the police after he punched her on her left arm and abdominal area multiple times.

The court heard that this was one of the more serious instances of physical abuse. The man stopped attacking her only after she called the police.

The woman sought medical attention at Changi General Hospital and was diagnosed with a contusion of the arm.

Despite the abuse, the victim did not file for a personal protection order because her husband had apologised to her after each incident of domestic violence.

The assaults and quarrels persisted from 2019 to 2021, although they were less serious than before, the court heard.

On one occasion, he hit his wife after her relative broke their toilet and incurred repair costs of S$300 (RM1,044).

On March 16 last year at about 11pm, the wife told her husband that she would be travelling to Sri Lanka to visit her mother without him.

He got angry and threatened her by saying, “Get an abortion. Or I will take a knife and kill you and the baby. I will chop it up into pieces”.

Frightened, she locked herself in a room and called her mother for help. Her mother, in turn, called the man’s parents, who tried to contact him.

The man did not calm down and persisted in telling his parents that he wanted to kill his wife.

The next morning when he woke up, he was angrier than he had been the night before and threatened his wife again, saying: “If you are still here when I get back, I will kill you and throw you out on the street.”

Afraid that he would make good his threats when he returned home, the wife made a police report. Court documents did not state when he was arrested.

In its sentencing submission, the prosecution asked for a jail term of between six and eight months, saying that there was a long-standing history of spousal violence from as early as 2016, where the victim was physically assaulted.

The judge gave a jail sentence of seven months.

For criminal intimidation by threatening death with the intent to cause alarm, the man could have been jailed for up to 10 years, or fined, or both

For voluntarily causing hurt, he could have been jailed for up to a year or fined up to S$1,000, or both. — TODAY