A 35-year-old parcel delivery worker was sentenced to six months’ jail by the Magistrate’s Court here today after pleading guilty to assaulting his wife following an argument over unpaid rental arrears.
Magistrate Arun Noval Dass handed down the sentence on Mohamad Norkholis Idris Imam Muryadi after taking into account his guilty plea and the overall facts of the case.
The accused, a father of three, faced two charges of voluntarily causing hurt to his 32-year-old wife during incidents that occurred on June 13 in Parit Raja.
For the first charge, he was accused of pushing his wife until she fell against a wall inside a storeroom at about 9am on the day of the incident.
On the second charge, he was alleged to have punched her in the face and head while they were inside a parked car in front of their house at about 9.30am the same day.
Both charges were framed under Section 323 of the Penal Code read together with Section 326A, which provide for a maximum one-year jail term or fine, or both, and an enhanced sentence upon conviction.
The court heard that the incident stemmed from a verbal dispute after the wife urged the accused to settle outstanding rental payments.
The argument escalated, leading to the physical assault in both the storeroom and later inside the vehicle.
Police arrested the accused at 1.35pm on the same day at the Batu Pahat District Police Headquarters compound to assist investigations.
It was also revealed that the couple had previously lived in a rented house before moving into a room due to financial difficulties in paying rent.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Firdaus Ruslan, while the accused was represented by lawyer Heng Eng Gee from the National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK).
The court ordered the accused to serve three months’ jail for each charge, with both sentences to run concurrently from the date of arrest on June 13.
