Man jailed 10 months, fined for ‘perverse and sustained victimisation’ of estranged wife
The court heard that a man repeatedly molested his wife, even though they were estranged and undergoing divorce proceedings.
SINGAPORE — They were getting divorced and his wife had obtained a personal protection order (PPO) against him, but the unemployed man repeatedly molested her and threatened their three teenage children.
The man did this for almost a year at the family home they still shared. On the last occasion, he threatened to jump from their block of flats when he realised his family wanted to call the police.
For his actions, the 48-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to 10 months’ jail and a fine of S$5,000 on Monday (Nov 25).
None of them can be named due to a court order to protect the identities of his family members. The couple’s divorce was finalised in July.
The man pleaded guilty earlier this month to nine charges of molestation, contravening an expedited order — a temporary PPO issued when a court finds that there is imminent danger of violence being committed — and causing alarm to his family members.
Another 28 similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that the man committed his offences from October 2017 to August 2018. His ex-wife, who is now 46, had obtained the expedited order against him in September 2017 as he had been violent towards her in the past, especially when drunk.
He would touch her forcefully even when she refused his advances and asked him to stop.
At the same time, she got a domestic exclusion order forbidding him from entering the master bedroom of their flat.
SHOUTED SLURS AT WIFE
Despite these orders, he harassed his wife on Oct 2, 2017 when he got home after drinking with his friends.
Reeking of alcohol, he followed her into the kitchen, groped her, and hugged and kissed her.
She called the police but he continued touching her after she warned him to stop. By the time police officers arrived, he had left.
On April 9 last year, he was so heavily intoxicated that he could not open the gate to their flat. He began to shout, “My wife is having an affair” and “She’s sleeping with another man”.
When she eventually let him into the flat, he continued shouting those phrases. He tried to stop her from calling the police and then left the flat.
The next month, she was lying in bed when he entered the bedroom, touched her feet and hit her buttock. She shouted at him to go away, but he climbed on top of her and tried to kiss her.
Two of their children saw what was happening and she reported the incident later that afternoon.
On Aug 10 last year, he was sleeping in the living room when he began screaming and shouting in response to their daughter turning on the television.
He pushed several containers off the kitchen counter, then brandished one of them at his wife. Thinking he was going to hit her, she cowered and covered her head with her hands.
One of their daughters shouted at him to stop, so he grabbed the television remote controller and waved it at her, shouting that she was the cause of the problem.
Their son returned home at this point and advised his mother to call the police.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kathy Chu told the court: “Hearing this, the accused dashed out of their home and tried to jump over the parapet. He placed his leg over the parapet.”
His family members managed to restrain him and took him back inside. He left before the police arrived.
Court documents did not state how he was eventually arrested.
‘PERVERSE AND SUSTAINED VICTIMISATION’
The man’s lawyer sought to highlight in mitigation the proposition that the authorities should have hauled his client to court earlier and charged him with breaching the PPO.
“It would have been stopped earlier and saved a lot of trouble… This is a case where you don’t have to wait until it gets to 37 charges,” the lawyer added.
DPP Chu replied that the man had blatantly disregarded the PPO and their divorce had not been finalised yet at that stage.
“I must highlight that he knew he was under investigation with each call and report made… he should surely take responsibility for his own actions,” she said.
In sentencing him, District Judge Marvin Bay told the court that the man’s actions showed “perverse and sustained victimisation of his wife”.
“You exhibited complete and callous disregard for the emotional and mental wellbeing of your wife and children, and it would be natural to expect that the intensity of your offending would cause considerable trauma to your family,” he said.
