KOTA KINABALU: A jobless man was fined RM1,500 or five months' jail by the magistrate's court here for assaulting his wife over a toilet flush issue.
Teh Beng Chee, 45, had thrown a steel jug at his wife, causing a bruise on her right arm.
He pleaded guilty before Magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles to committing the offence at Beverly Hills Apartment in Penampang on April 26, 2021.
The offence under Section 323 provides imprisonment of up to one year or with a maximum fine of RM2, 000 or both, upon conviction.
The facts of the case stated that the accused initially had verbal arguments with his wife, and later she asked him to check a malfunctioning toilet flush.
Upon fixing it, the angry accused, took the flush cover and tried to throw it at his wife.
However, his daughter managed to stop him. The accused then threw the flush cover to the floor, causing it to break.
His wife and their daughter then went to the kitchen while the accused picked up a steel jug from a table and threw it at his wife, which hit her right arm.
In pleading for a lenient sentence, National Legal Aid Foundation Counsel Lim Ming Zoong @ Lawrence told the court that Teh had two children and he had been unemployed since the movement control order was enforced.
When asked by the court regarding his marriage, Teh said they were still husband and wife, but they no longer stayed together.
In the same court, a man was fined RM25 or three days' jail for verbally threatening his sister.
Callixtus Stephen, 30, admitted to putting his 19-year-old sister in fear at Kampung Rugading Babagon in Penampang on Sept 30 last year.
The court heard that the accused was dissatisfied with his sister, who had borrowed a car from their mother to transport her stuff as she had moved out from her rented house to their parents' house.
The accused had threatened to hurt his sister and went to her room but was stopped by their mother.
The offence falls under Section 8 (1) (e) of the Minor Offences Ordinance provides for a fine of up to RM25, upon conviction.
Inspector Kelvan Elson Maik prosecuted both cases.
