A Vietnamese woman has been sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of criminal intimidation and threatening to her Singaporean husband.
In December last year, 33-year-old Lu Ut Em brandished a knife at her husband during an argument in front of their two young children.
She was later arrested by the police.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Lu and her husband, 61-year-old Khwang Kai Ping, lived together in a flat in Teck Whye with their two children, aged three and five.
The victim’s mother, brother, and sister-in-law were also living in the flat.
Video footage from 2 Dec 2023 showed Lu at home with Mr Khwang and a few other family members, including their kids.
Lu appeared to be angry at her husband, which resulted in her grabbing a kitchen knife and swinging it at him.
Source: GOLFX from Getty Images on Canva, for illustration purposes only
At one point, she apparently said the word “bleeding” in Mandarin, The Straits Times (ST) noted.
However, Mr Khwang did not fight back.
Lu also threatened her brother-in-law when he tried to step in, pointing the knife at him and making jabbing motions.
In an attempt to defend himself, Mr Khwang took a chopper to try and scare his wife into putting her weapon down.
When this did not work, he left to prevent the dispute from getting worse.
Police arrested Lu after Mr Khwang’s brother called them to the flat.
In court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim argued that the use of the weapon was dangerous as there was clear intent to scare the victim.
Their children were also present during the incident.
As such, Mr Lim sought three to four months’ jail and a fine for Lu.
Lu appeared apologetic for what she had done and asked to pay the fine without the jail sentence so that she could look after her children.
She then admitted that she was “very hot-tempered”, to which the judge said that “conflicts and disagreements are part and parcel of family life and living together”.
We are not saying you cannot be angry. We are saying you should control yourself after being angry.
The judge also raised concerns about her kids.
“It’s shocking to see the young children walking around when you are brandishing a knife,” he said.
“You do not know the kind of effect psychologically you will have on them to witness such acts at home.”
On Thursday (14 March), Lu was sentenced to three months in jail plus a S$2,000 fine.
The judge added that he would appoint a court counsellor to help Lu manage her anger better.
A similar incident had also taken place in February 2024, after which she was remanded as well.
Also read: Taxi driver arrested for attacking passenger with a weapon after dispute in Bedok
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Featured image adapted from MS News.
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