A sexagenarian was arrested on Friday for attacking his wife and threatening her with drain cleaner, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said at a press conference yesterday.
The 65-year-old local suspect surnamed Chao told the police that he is a chauffeur.
His 45-year-old wife is a mainlander and married Chao in the mainland in 2008. She subsequently obtained a Macau ID card. The couple have two daughters, aged 10 and 12.
According to Chong, the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) referred a domestic violence case to the Judiciary Police on Friday and got in touch with the victim who told the police that after she married her husband, they often quarrelled over trivial matters. Her husband frequently threatened her verbally and physically attacked by punching and kicking her, resulting in her mental breakdown. Chong said the victim had two records of attempting suicide, in 2013 and 2017, because she couldn’t stand her husband’s long-term mental and physical abuse. Her case has been followed up by social workers and psychiatrists over the years.
In April, Chao threatened his wife with a knife and told her “to be obedient”. The victim said that she went to the mainland to look for a job on May 1, planning to leave her husband, but Chao discovered her plan and when she returned from the mainland at night he questioned her about it.
When Chao realised that his wife was planning to leave him, he shoved her several times against the flat’s main door and the snatched her Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents (colloquially called Home Return Permit). The victim called the police for help later that night but she changed her mind out of fear after the police had arrived at the scene, by claiming that she no longer needed their assistance as it was just some petty family matter.
According to Chong, in early May, Chao took a bottle of drain cleaner and held it close to the victim’s face, saying in front of their daughters that if she left him he would pour the drain cleaner over her face. The victim told a social worker about the incident and finally decided to report the case to the police on Friday through the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS).
Chong said PJ officers arrested Chao on the same day in the northern district and later seized four bottles of drain cleaner and a cleaver from the couple’s home in Cotai. Chao denied attacking his wife. However, according to the findings of the investigation, Chao is a suspect in the case.
Chao was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Saturday, facing a domestic violence charge, according to Chong.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong poses during a press conference at the PJ headquarters yesterday. Photo: Camy Tam
