Man who subjected Vietnamese wife to 2 years of violence jailed
He once choked his wife before threatening her with a penknife.
The victim, a 48-year-old Vietnamese, later took out a personal protection order (PPO) against her husband. However, it did not deter Seah Kian Beng from being violent again towards his wife Truong Bich Hue.
Seah, a 47-year-old Singaporean, was jailed for two months and four weeks on Tuesday (27 November) after pleading guilty to four counts of voluntarily causing hurt, three counts of breaching the PPO, and one count of criminal intimidation. Eight counts of a similar nature, including verbal abuse on a public servant, were taken into consideration for sentencing.
Court documents showed that on 17 October 2016, Seah, a mechanical engineer, returned home and scolded Truong for no apparent reason. Truong escaped to the void deck out of fear but her husband followed. Truong then fled to her room and Seah followed her. He punched his wife on her right cheek, twisted her hand and shoved her.
When Truong tried to call the police, Seah put her in a stranglehold. He later released her and left the room but went to her room window to threaten her with a penknife when she locked the door. He told her, “I will kill you and throw you down the building.”
Truong was issued a PPO against Seah on 27 September last year but that did not stop the assaults – sometimes committed by Seah when he was drunk.
In April this year, Seah shoved Truong in anger after he found out she had lunch with her colleagues.
Later in the same month, Seah was enraged when Truong refused to eat the fruits that he bought for her. Seah punched Truong before pulling her by the hair to prevent her from leaving the flat.
In another incident some days later, the couple argued before Seah slapped Truong on her cheek. He had drunk three cans of beer prior to the incident.
Barely a month later, when the couple were at home, Seah stopped his wife from going to the bathroom and demanded money to buy cigarettes. Truong refused, prompting Seah to push her to the floor twice.
Court documents did not state if the couple are still together but Truong was present for Seah’s hearing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Angela Ang, who asked for two months and four weeks’ jail, said Seah’s drunken state was an aggravating factor.
Seah, who was unrepresented, said through a court interpreter that he was under a lot of stress at the time of the offences.
“I had to service a heavy housing loan with high interest,” said Seah, who added that he received a bank letter stating his flat would be repossessed if he did not pay up. He said his wife was also pleading for leniency for him as she was afraid that the flat would be repossessed.
District Judge Kessler Soh criticised Seah for using alcohol to cope with stress and committing violence.
“You’ve been given repeated chances. You really need to change the way you handle stress,” said the judge.
