A man has appeared in Dili Municipality Court after he assaulted his wife after she packed her bags and went to stay at her sister’s house.
According to the prosecution facts read by the Presiding Judge the victim (CC) was in the kitchen preparing breakfast on February 18, 2015 when the accused (AC) came in and said their son was late for school and did not need to go. The victim then went to take a shower and when she came back out the accused threw her clothes to the ground.
Without saying anything, she picked up the clothes and put them back in the wardrobe. She also packed some clothes in a bag with the intention of staying overnight at her sister’s house after work.
However, when CC informed her husband of her plans he threw her bag to the ground.
After finishing working, the victim went directly to her sister’s house and at about 8pm the accused arrived at the property and began hitting the victim and pulling her hair before driving her home.
Once they returned home, the accused continued to hit, slap and punch the victim until she fell down to the ground.
After the accusation was read, the accused told the court that he disagreed with some of the facts as outlined.
He said they had been having some marriage problem and the victim had refused to talk to him for three days prior to the incident, causing his to become angry and throw her clothes to the ground.
He admitted he did so to try and get a reaction from his wife, but said he did not mean to intimidate her.
He also claimed his wife was stubborn and that he had acted out of anger.
“She didn’t talk to me [and] then she wanted to stay overnight at her sister’s house and I was angry because she left us alone,” he said.
After hearing the declaration, the Presiding Judge said the actions of the accused were in violation of the country’s laws on domestic violence.
He handed down a two-year suspended sentence to the accused and warned him not to repeat his actions or he would face imprisonment.
