Chinese national, 61, gets 10 years’ jail for strangling wife
Chinese national Hu Ziqing, 61, was sentenced to 10 years' jail. Photo: Singapore Police Force
SINGAPORE — It began as a last-ditch attempt to convince his wife to return to China with him, and ended with him strangling her to death after a scuffle.
For this, Chinese national Hu Ziqing, 61, was sentenced to 10 years’ jail today (Nov 2), after having his charge reduced from murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder due to his mental state.
The incident took place in their Choa Chu Kang flat some two years ago. Hu arrived in Singapore in 2007 on an employment pass, but eventually became dependent on his wife, Liu Bi Jiao, when he was unable to find work. He switched to holding a dependent’s pass in 2009 while Mdm Liu worked as a beautician, and this put a strain on their marriage, with Mdm Liu, also a Chinese national, frequently criticising him, the court heard.
In June 2013, Hu’s dependent’s pass was cancelled and he had to leave Singapore. On Aug 8 2013, the day he was to leave Singapore, Hu woke up at 4am and tried to persuade Mdm Liu to quit her job and join him in China at a later date. She refused as she wanted to stay in Singapore till her daughter from her previous marriage completed her tertiary education here.
Mdm Liu told Hu that she had provided for him financially for the past several years and he should respect her decision. She told him: “I will die here but not leave with you.”
When he attempted to get intimate with her, Mdm Liu rejected him. This angered Hu, who then hit her on her upper right arm. The disagreement then escalated into a heated argument and Hu used his right hand to cover the deceased mouth’s to prevent her from shouting. When Mdm Liu bit his finger, he used his left hand to squeeze her neck.
During the scuffle on the floor, Hu kept his hands on her mouth and around her neck. Mdm Liu also repeatedly shouted for her daughter, “KeKe, save mother” in Mandarin during the struggle, which prompted the daughter to call the police.
Hu did not release his hold even though he felt the deceased getting weaker and only did so when he heard knocking on the main door.
The court heard that leading up to the incident, Hu was clinically depressed and experienced psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and had “over-valued ideas of guilty and inadequacy”.
The Institute of Mental Health report also noted that “the things said and done by the deceased provoked the accused in a sudden and substantial manner, which in conjunction with the accused’s altered state of mind, resulted in a significant loss of control over his actions”.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Shi asked for a jail term of at least 12 years, noting how Mdm Liu suffered a “tragic death” at home and at the hands of the person she might have expected to take care of her.
But Hu’s defence lawyer Chua Eng Hui cited Hu’s psychiatric condition, the grief from losing his wife and his clean record among the mitigating factors in his plea.
Hu could have been jailed for life, or jailed up to 20 years and fined or caned.
