A 50-year-old local man claims that he attacked his ex-wife with a hammer on Rua de Sacadura Cabral at 10:25 p.m. on Monday out of revenge for accusing him of domestic violence and rape in 2017, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lam Keong said during a special press conference yesterday.
According to Lam, the suspect surnamed Kuong and the 50-year-old victim surnamed Wong were divorced in April 2020.
Wong, who sustained a skull fracture, was being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre after undergoing craniotomy surgery to remove the broken bone penetrating her brain, Lam said, adding that at the time of the press conference yesterday afternoon the victim had not yet regained consciousness.
According to Lam, upon receiving a report through the 999 emergency hotline at 10:36 p.m. on Monday, according to which a woman was injured after having been attacked by a man with a hammer on Rua de Sacadura Cabral, PSP officers were dispatched to the scene where they found the victim lying on the ground injured and bleeding, while the attacker, who was still at the scene, was subdued by four off-duty PSP officers and then handcuffed by a female traffic police officer. Kuong threw the hammer into the gutter before he was subdued.
A 53-year-old female witness surnamed Lai, who works as a casino dealer and is Wong’s colleague, told the police at the scene that she had tried to stop Kuong during the attack but was intimidated by him, adding that she was afraid that Kuong would attack her too, so she moved away to call the police, Lam said.
Under questioning, Kuong told the police that he had thought of killing Wong as early as 2017 after she had accused him of domestic violence and rape, so he put the hammer and a knife under his motorbike seat, while passing Wong’s home nearby from time to time, waiting for the opportunity to commit the crime, according to Lam, who noted that a 25-centimetre-long sharp knife was discovered under Kuong’s motorbike seat, which, however, was not used in the attack.
Kuong, who works as a driver, was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of aggravated attempted homicide, possessing prohibited weapons and intimidation, Lam said.
The hooded local suspect is escorted by two police officers from the northern district Public Security Police (PSP) station on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda to a PSP vehicle, with two other police officers displaying evidence – a hammer and a knife – seized from the suspect. – Photo: Yuki Lei
