A 40-year-old female Chinese national was sentenced to jail on Thursday, November 28 for seven months after pleading guilty to one count of causing hurt with a dangerous weapon. It was reported that the woman smashed a beer bottle on the suspected lover of her husband.
The accused, her husband and the suspected lover
The accused Chen Xiaqin, her 42-year-old husband and his employees gathered at a steamboat restaurant in Geylang to celebrate her birthday in May 2018. During the dinner, the couple fought and her husband left the restaurant. Later in the same evening, the Chen approached an 18-year-old girl who worked in her husband's company. During the court hearing, Deputy Public Prosecutor Grace Teo said that she pulled the unnamed woman's hair twice and used a beer bottle to hit the back of the victim's head.
The court also heard that the accused tried to stab the girl with the broken bottle, but she blocked the blow. The fight caused the 18-year-old injuries on her forearm and scalp. After the assault, which was captured in a CCTV footage, the victim was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Court hearing
During the hearing, the court came to know that Chen and her husband have a three-year-old son, who is now in China. The defence lawyer, Dhanwant Singh told the court that Chen's husband was behaving suspiciously and before he left the restaurant the husband showed affection towards the victim who was allegedly having an affair with Chen's husband.
The defence lawyer stated that Chen committed the offence to make sure the family stays together. Singh also added that "this is an exceptional case of a mother and wife's reaction for the first time in her life, which unfortunately is frowned upon by the law." However, a medical report from Changi General Hospital showed that Chen has adjustment disorder and suicidal thoughts.
Singapore law
Whoever, except in the case provided for by section 334, voluntarily causes hurt by means of any instrument for shooting, stabbing or cutting, or any instrument which, used as a weapon of offence, is likely to cause death, or by means of fire or any heated substance, or by means of any poison or any corrosive substance, or by means of any explosive substance, or by means of any substance which it is deleterious to the human body to inhale, to swallow, or to receive into the blood, or by means of any animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with caning, or with any combination of such punishments.
