A man who slapped, hit and kicked his wife for leaving their children home alone has appeared in The Dili Municipality Court (DMC) after being charged with minor assault under domestic violence laws.
According to the facts read by the presiding judge, the incident occurred on May 10, 2015 after the victim went to their neighbour’s house for prayer, leaving their kids, aged 3 and 7 years old, alone at home.
At that time, the victim trusted the 7-year-old to take care of her younger brother, but the accused became angry after returning from work to find the 3-year-old in tears.
When the victim returned from prayer, the accused blamed the victim for leaving their children at home unattended.
The accused then slapped the victim on her cheek and hit her until she fell to the ground where he kicked her.
The victim’s brother later saw his sister crying outside and reported the incident to Comoro Police station.
When asked for his response to the accusations, the accused acknowledged assaulting his wife at the time, but said they had since reconciled.
“I have apologized to my wife and now we are fine,” he told the court.
He said he had paid a fine to his wife’s family according to the tradition and has not resorted to violence again since the incident.
The prosecution asked the court to impose a suitable sentence as the accused had committed physical assault with domestic violence, public crime under penal code law article 145.
After hearing the declarations, the presiding judge sentenced the accused to two years’ in prison, suspended for one year.
