A Singaporean man was sentenced to jail on Tuesday (30 July) for physically assaulting his wife after spotting her at a Joo Chiat pub in 2023.
58-year-old Ong Bee Hua married his wife in June 2023, after first meeting her at a pub in 2019 where she was working as a hostess.
The 35-year-old Vietnamese national then moved into her new husband’s home and was given a short-term visit pass by the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA).
However, a string of fights soon followed as Ong suspected that his wife was cheating on him.
The woman later moved out to live on her own in July 2023.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the woman had visited Club Echo pub along Joo Chiat Road on 16 October 2023 to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
She later made her way to S Box Pub & Entertainment nearby to visit another friend.
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Unbeknownst to her, Ong visited his friends for drinks at the same S Box pub at around 9pm that night.
Ong spotted his wife and began recording her with his phone as he wanted to report her to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for allegedly working illegally.
The woman subsequently saw him and attempted to cover her face with her hands.
The two began arguing as the woman tried to grab Ong’s phone from his hand.
She eventually hid in the pub’s toilet before leaving by the back door.
Per CNA, the woman left the pub and went to a nearby bus stop in an attempt to flag a taxi home at around 10.50pm.
Ong spotted the woman as he was looking for her and approached her, wanting to film her again.
A fight then ensued as Ong slapped the woman multiple times across her cheek and pulled her hair.
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He also scolded her for being “black-hearted” as she had previously applied for a personal protection order against him.
A bystander witnessed the incident and began filming the scuffle while the woman’s friend intervened by slapping Ong.
Ong then slapped the woman’s friend, but eventually left the scene.
His wife received treatment at a hospital the following day and was given medication for the pain in her left cheek.
CNA reported that Ong’s defence lawyer had asked for a fine or a short term jailed instead of the prosecution’s request for one to two weeks’ jail.
He claimed that the “whole thing started” because Ong’s wife had returned home one day with an alleged love bite on her chest.
In response, District Judge Kessler Soh then asked: “Are you saying it is alright for this man to assault his wife, slap her in public, pull her hair, because of these reasons and expect to get away with a fine?”
Ong’s lawyer assured that his client was unlikely to reoffend as the couple is no longer together, adding that there was “hardly any injury” on the woman.
The prosecution challenged that despite Ong’s disagreements with his wife, he should not have committed the act.
District Judge Soh accepted the prosecution’s request and sentenced Ong to one week in jail for one count of voluntarily causing hurt.
For the charge, Ong could have been jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
Also read: Woman in M’sia loses teeth after husband beats her for questioning him about cheating
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Featured image adapted from MS News.
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