The Judiciary Police (PJ) busted on Thursday a domestic violence case, in which a local man was arrested for allegedly inflicting violence on his ex-wife repeatedly and violating a court-imposed no-contact order by forcibly entering the victim’s home on two occasions to rob her and hold her against her will for as long as 31 hours on one of the occasions.
According to a special press conference on Friday, the suspect was intercepted at the victim’s home in Nam Van on Thursday. He resisted arrest with a fruit knife, resulting in injuries to himself and two PJ officers, all of whom required hospital treatment.
PJ spokesman Chao Teng Hin announced the details of the case, saying that the suspect, a 39-year-old man surnamed Choi, is reportedly unemployed. He married the victim, a local resident, in October 2023 and filed for divorce in December last year. After the divorce, the victim moved into a flat in Nam Van. On January 23 this year, she reported to the Judiciary Police that Choi had assaulted and injured her. The Judiciary Police subsequently transferred the suspect to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), where he faced charges of causing bodily harm, intimidation and possession of a prohibited weapon, also having been banned from contacting his ex-wife.
The victim, accompanied by a friend, went to the police again on Thursday, March 20 this year. Chao quoted the victim as noting that at noon on February 25, the suspect forced his way in to her flat on the pretext of repaying a debt, during which he slapped and threatened her with a fruit knife to demand money. She was then held against her will in the flat until 10 p.m. the following day, when the suspect robbed her handbag, valued at 9,000 patacas and left the flat.
The victim added that Choi came to her flat again in the early hours of last Tuesday and held her captive until 7 p.m. that day, violently threatening her to borrow 5,000 patacas from one of her friends. She was then forced to go with the suspect to an ATM to withdraw the money.
The Judiciary Police, upon receiving the report on Thursday, took the victim to her flat for investigation that afternoon, during which they spotted Choi and apprehended him.
Under questioning, Choi confessed to having sold the victim’s handbag in the mainland for 2,000 yuan (2,207 patacas). The PJ investigation confirmed, according to the spokesman, that Choi committed the crimes, reported by his ex-wife, on various occasions, resulting in her physical and psychological abuse.
The Judiciary Police transferred Choi to the Public Prosecutions Office after Friday’s press conference, where he faces charges of causing aggravated bodily harm, domestic violence, possession of a prohibited weapon, false imprisonment, robbery, and resistance and coercion.
The hooded local male suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarter to a PJ vehicle after Friday’s special press conference. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
