Woman attacks mother-in-law over confrontation about alleged affair, jailed 8 months
Nurul Natasha Sazali, 23, was sentenced to eight months behind bars after pleading guilty to causing hurt to her mother-in-law with a dangerous weapon.
SINGAPORE — He suspected that his wife was cheating on him, so he asked his mother to have a chat with her.
But when confronted by her mother-in-law that night, Nurul Natasha Sazali flew into such a rage that she attacked Madam Fatimah Kalanthar Mastan with a chopper.
On Friday (May 24), the 23-year-old was sentenced to eight months behind bars after pleading guilty to causing hurt to Mdm Fatimah with a dangerous weapon. Two other similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that Natasha, her husband, 25, and Mdm Fatimah, 68, were living together in the same flat when the incident took place on Dec 15, 2018.
At about 10.30pm that day, while Natasha was giving Mdm Fatimah a massage in her room, the older woman asked her if her husband was not good enough for her, and if one husband was not enough for her either.
Mdm Fatimah also brought up a past police case that Natasha had been involved in. It was not stated in court documents what this case was about.
As Mdm Fatimah walked out to the living room, Natasha, enraged by what her mother-in-law had just said, followed her and punched her a few times in the face.
Natasha then grabbed a chopper with a 17cm-long blade from the kitchen and slashed the older woman twice in the back while shouting: “You better die, lah.”
After a few attempts to take the chopper from Natasha, Mdm Fatimah eventually grabbed it and tossed it aside. She then followed Natasha out of the house.
At about 11.15pm, Natasha’s husband called the police saying that his wife had slashed his mother and thrown the weapon away. Natasha was then arrested.
A psychiatric report from the Institute of Mental Health stated that Natasha had borderline personality traits that included a fear of abandonment, rapid reactive changes to her mood and a tendency to get angry easily. However, she was not mentally ill at the time of the incident.
Mdm Fatimah was treated for her injuries at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital over the next two days, and was given 14 days of hospitalisation leave.
She suffered multiple deep cuts to her fingers, forearm, shoulders and upper back.
A medical report from the hospital stated that while she did not suffer any permanent injuries, she could develop scar tissue that could limit the motion and function of her hand.
Natasha will begin serving her sentence on June 7. District Judge Ong Chin Rhu said that she would instruct prison authorities to take into account the two-and-a-half months during which she was remanded.
