Woman who stabbed her husband in void deck scuffle, causing his death, gets jail
The 62-year-old man died a day after his wife stabbed him in his thigh, wounding his femoral artery.
A view of the entrance to the State Courts building. (File photo: CNA)
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SINGAPORE: A woman who stabbed her husband in a scuffle at a void deck, causing his death, was sentenced to a total of 31 months' jail on Tuesday (Oct 14).
Baniyah Shap, a 52-year-old Singaporean, was given the sentence for a variety of offences.
She pleaded guilty to seven charges, three of which relate to the stabbing: A rash act causing death, possessing a foldable knife and perverting the course of justice by washing the knife after the stabbing and hiding it.
The other four charges are unrelated to the incident and involve the relinquishing of bank accounts which were later used in scams.
Another eight charges were considered in sentencing.
WHAT HAPPENED
The court heard that Baniyah was married to the victim, 62-year-old Mr Ali Saaban, who was unemployed.
At about 7pm on Dec 11, 2023, the couple went to the common area around their block in Ang Mo Kio and met up with neighbours for drinks.
During the session, Mr Ali decided to go home to sleep and left with his granddaughter.
At about 11pm, Baniyah and her brother went to a senior citizen's corner to watch people play carrom.
Their friends, Ms Marie Muniandy and Mr Balasubramaniam Murugesan, who were a couple, later joined them.
A dispute arose about Baniyah's brother, who was allegedly close to Ms Marie.
Baniyah managed to resolve the issue by speaking to Ms Marie's boyfriend, and she left her brother to return home.
When she got home, she saw that her granddaughter was playing with her phone while her husband was asleep.
Angered, she woke him up and accused him of neglecting the girl while he slept.
Baniyah left the house, but her husband followed her with his granddaughter, puzzled at what had happened.
When Baniyah went back to the void deck, she saw her brother sitting with Ms Marie. This angered her further, and she began shouting at them.
When Mr Ali got to the void deck, he saw his wife shouting and grabbed her from the back, telling her to go home.
Baniyah resisted and began scuffling with her husband.
Mr Ali locked his arms around Baniyah's neck, and she struggled and fell.
A bunch of keys that Baniyah was holding onto fell, and the blade of a foldable knife attached to the keys popped open.
Baniyah took the keys, extended the blade of the knife and held onto it while she struggled with her husband.
She swung and struck her husband on his thigh, halting the scuffle. The man stumbled backwards, holding his thigh, which was bleeding profusely.
Bystanders attended to him immediately, while Baniyah stood stunned, staring blankly before going home with the bunch of keys and the knife.
She washed the weapon, hid the items and returned to the void deck with a blanket.
She shouted at the gathered crowd not to call for the police or an ambulance, saying she was capable of attending to her husband.
By that time, Mr Ali had already slipped into an unconscious state and was unresponsive. He was taken to hospital and resuscitated twice, but died on Dec 12, 2023.
An autopsy found that he had died from bleeding due to a stab wound to his right femoral artery.
The prosecutor sought a total sentence of two years and nine months for all of Baniyah's offences.
He said Baniyah's stabbing had caused her husband to bleed out, and that the act was "deliberately rash" and exhibited a "blatant disregard for human life".
The violence was excessive, and her "post-incident reaction" reveals her lack of remorse as she went home to clean and hide the knife before returning and attempting to stop others from giving aid to her husband, said the prosecutor.
For committing a rash act causing death, Baniyah could have been jailed for up to five years, fined, or both.
