6 weeks' jail for woman who stabbed husband for messaging lover

SINGAPORE — The mother of two who stabbed her husband in the chest for messaging a woman he wanted to take as his second wife has been sentenced to six weeks in jail.

Nur Fairuzana Ahmad, 30, was given the jail sentence on Monday (Oct 16) after she was found to be unsuitable for the mandatory treatment order previously called for by her lawyer.

She had admitted last month to one count of voluntarily causing hurt to her husband, Mr Muhammad Yasser Abdul Shukor, 34, by stabbing him. He suffered a 3cm stab wound in the chest, and a 1cm cut in his liver, among other injuries.

In delivering the sentence, District Judge May Mesenas said she had considered the mitigating factors, such as this being Fairuzana's first offence. But this was a serious offence, as Fairuzana had hurt her husband's vital parts, the judge added.

The court heard that the incident took place in the bedroom of the couple's Punggol flat on April 17 last year.

Fairuzana, an administrator at a shipping company, got into a tussle with her husband after discovering that he had been exchanging text and audio messages, such as "I love you", with a lover.

Mr Yasser met the woman in the Philippines, and had planned to take her as his second wife.

After they tussled over possession of the phone, Fairuzana left their bedroom and returned with a knife in hand. She stabbed him on the right side of his chest and pulled out the knife.

The weapon dropped to the floor as Mr Yasser tried to grab her hand. He later picked up the weapon and flung it out of the window.

The couple is in the midst of getting a divorce.

On Monday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Samuel Yap reiterated the prosecution's call for a two-month jail sentence.

DPP Yap told the court that Fairuzana's offence was a serious matter, and that the sentence had already been "calibrated significantly downwards to take into account the mitigating factors".

In mitigation, Fairuzana's lawyer Vigneesh Nainar said his client was a victim of her husband's physical and emotional abuse, and had urged the court to consider electronic tagging and community service.

District Judge Mesenas disagreed with the suggestion.

Fairuzana will commence her sentence on Oct 23. For voluntarily causing hurt, she could have faced a jail term of up to two years, and/or a fine of up to S$5,000.