Kota Kinabalu: A 45-year-old car painter was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment by the Magistrate’s Court here after pleading guilty to assaulting his wife and criminally intimidating her and their daughter following suspicions that she was having an affair.
Terrence Kassum pleaded guilty before Magistrate Dzul Elmy Yunus to committing the offences at a house in Kampung Pulutan, Manggatal, at about 2am on June 5 this year.
On the first charge, Terrence was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment for voluntarily causing hurt to his 27-year-old wife.
The offence, under Section 323 read together with Section 326A of the Penal Code, carries a punishment of up to one year’s imprisonment or a fine of up to RM2,000, or both, upon conviction.
Section 326A provides for the maximum imprisonment term to be doubled when the offence is committed against a spouse.
On the second charge, he was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment for criminal intimidation against his wife, while on the third charge he received a further 12 months’ imprisonment for committing a similar offence against his 12-year-old daughter.
Both offences fall under Section 506 of the Penal Code, which carries a punishment of up to two years’ imprisonment or a fine, or both.
The court ordered the sentences for the first and second charges to run concurrently from the date of arrest, while the sentence for the third charge was ordered to run consecutively, resulting in a total effective imprisonment term of 24 months.
Earlier, the prosecution told the court that on the day in question, a dispute broke out between Terrence and his wife after he accused her of having an affair with another man.
He allegedly forced her to admit to the accusation and threatened to kill their four children if she refused, while also threatening to take his own life.
The court heard that Terrence took a kitchen knife and placed it against the neck of the couple’s eldest child, causing the children to cry in fear. He also allegedly attempted to force them to drink poison from a bottle he was holding.
When his wife tried to intervene, a struggle ensued, during which she sustained injuries to her neck, bruises on her right shoulder and right leg, and had her hair pulled before being dragged from the living room into a bedroom.
Investigations found that the couple had been married for 12 years and have four children. They were living in a rented house with eight family members, including two stepchildren.
The wife, who works as a masseuse, later lodged a police report after Terrence telephoned her at her workplace at 7.43pm the same day and allegedly threatened to kill the children by hanging them with a rope.
She sustained injuries to her neck and body, while the eldest child reportedly complained of stomach pain and was traumatised by the incident.
Terrence was arrested at about 1.15am on June 6.
Inspector Mohamad Hamidi Mohamad Hamzah, for the prosecution, applied for a deterrent sentence, stating it should reflect the severity of the offences and serve as a lesson both to the accused and society.
He submitted that Terrence’s actions were far beyond acceptable limits and that, as a father, he should have been a protector to his wife and children rather than a source of fear and harm.
Terrence, through a duty counsel, requested a more lenient sentence.
