Man jailed 5 months for breaking wife’s arm, slapping her while she carried their infant son

• A couple were arguing over their five-month-old son’s milk bottle
• The husband slapped his wife three times and his hand also hit the boy’s head
• She testified that when she refused to hand the boy to him, he twisted her arm so hard that it fractured
• She required surgery and initiated divorce proceedings after reporting him to the police

SINGAPORE — A 31-year-old man was jailed five months on Tuesday (March 30), after being convicted of slapping his wife several times while she held their baby son and twisting her arm so hard that it fractured.

The Singaporean man cannot be named due to a court order to protect his spouse’s identity. 

His lawyer Amarjit Singh Sidhu, assigned to him under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, told the court that the man intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

The husband was found guilty on Dec 15 last year of two criminal charges — committing a rash act that endangered the life or personal safety of others, and voluntarily causing hurt to his wife. They were going through divorce proceedings as of August last year.

WHAT HAPPENED

During the trial, the man admitted to fracturing his wife’s arm but alleged that she had threatened to commit suicide and grabbed a knife, which led to him twisting her arm in order to disarm her.

She testified that on Dec 15, 2018, they were about to go and attend her brother’s housewarming function.

She asked him for help to wash their son’s milk bottle since he was in the master bedroom toilet. 

He shouted back at her that he was getting ready but she observed that he was doing so “very slowly”.

She then asked him again to help with the bottle but he yelled vulgarities at her, she told the court. 

She asked him to stop doing this as their son was awake and they had previously agreed not to use vulgarities in front of him.

She testified that he then slapped her three times on the face while she was carrying their son, then aged five months. 

In doing so, he also hit the boy on the head, causing him to start crying.

When she pushed her husband away and sat down on the living room couch to comfort the boy, her husband asked her to hand the infant to him. She replied that she would only do so after he had calmed down.

He then grabbed her right wrist and twisted it till she heard a loud cracking sound.

Phone text messages that the couple exchanged after the incident were produced in court, showing that she believed he had broken her arm so that she had to depend on him to care for their son.

He told her that what he did was unintentional. 

She also testified that while they were waiting for the paramedics, he threatened to do something to the boy if she made a police report.

However, shortly after she argued with her husband over the phone, she changed her mind about reporting the matter to the authorities. 

He had told her during the call that he had intentionally broken her arm on his parents’ instructions.

Fearful of what else he could do to her in the future, she filed a police report on Jan 22, 2019 and started divorce proceedings.

'PARENTS SHOULD NOT GIVE INTO ANGER'

In sentencing the man on Tuesday, District Judge May Mesenas noted that community-based sentences were not appropriate for him due to the seriousness of the victim’s injuries. The offences were also “committed in the context of family violence”, the judge added.

The victim needed to undergo surgery for her injuries and was hospitalised for 12 days. 

Five months after the incident, she was only certified to perform computer work and could not carry heavy loads.

“His son was only five months old and vulnerable… Parents ought not to give into their anger and in this case, his son was visibly upset and crying after he slapped (the victim). He (the son) became the second victim, so to speak,” District Judge Mesenas added.

However, she noted that he had partially paid for the victim’s medical fees, “albeit at a late stage”. He was also a first-time offender.

For committing a rash act, he could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$2,500, or both.

For causing hurt, he could have been jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.