KUALA LUMPUR: The man at the centre of a wife-beating video that went viral on Facebook has stepped forward to give his side of the story.
With an apology and a note of remorse, Calven Chik , 26, explained that his actions were brought upon after a series of disputes.
“I know that there is no reason or justification for my actions and I cannot defend myself over this. It was something that I should not have done. I regret it,” he told news portal Malaysian Digest in an exclusive interview days after the shocking video enraged social media users here and abroad.
The video, posted by his 19-year-old wife Amanda Fong on Merdeka Day, has been shared close to 25,000 times at last count.
The closed-circuit television footage shows him repeatedly beating Fong, who is two-months pregnant, in their branded goods boutique.
On her Facebook page, Fong had also shared two other similar videos and an album containing images of her injuries as well as a scanned medical report.
Police, responding to the intense flurry of complaints by the public, made a plea to Fong's family to lodge a police report.
The couple met in June last year and tied the knot on Jan 17 this year.
Chik told the Malaysian Digest that both he and Fong have had many arguments before, with some of them 'escalating into violence'.
According to the report, this was also not the first time he had become physical with her.
“My wife had a troubled upbringing. Her parents separated when she was young, and she was raised by her mother and grandmother. This was related to me when we first started to know each other,” he claimed, telling the news portal that he believed his mother-in-law played a large role in influencing her daughter's behaviour.
He added that his wife's mother had made several bizarre demands, including a request to take her along on the couple's honeymoon.
The family were not well-off when he got to know Fong, but wealth suddenly poured in with Fong collecting expensive clothes and eventually being interested in buying a RM200,000 Volkswagen Beetle.
He was later told that the money came from an 'inheritance from her late grandfather'.
Just months after their wedding, Chik claimed that he stumbled upon text messages on Fong's iPhone between her and an Ipoh-based Datuk. She confessed to having an affair with the married man.
“She subsequently pledged to have nothing more to do with the man,” he said adding that she fell into a depression and threatened to kill herself after the admission.
With her medical report as proof, Chik claimed that his wife also suffered from depression, was suicidal and prone to fits of rage.
On the fight captured by the CCTV, Chik said he was trying to stop his wife from leaving the shop as "she had a history of driving off and disappearing for hours when they get into a fight".
“I’ve read the comments on Facebook and on blogs. I know what people are saying. My wife has also accused me of attempting to harm the baby, when it was the opposite.
“I have no excuse for that. It was something that shouldn’t have happened, it just went out of control,” he said.
On Tuesday, Yesterday, Fong posted an update on her Facebook profile seeking a “powerful and dedicated lawyer to help” her in her case.
“I know what I did was wrong. I’m not running away from it, I’m not hiding. I will accept whatever comes my way.” Chik said.
