TRAGIC END: Man jailed 12 years for strangling woman during quarrel
KUANTAN: CONSTANT nagging over a parking summons turned into a heated argument and cost a woman her life when she was strangled to death by her husband in June last year.
Post-mortem report showed that Yap Kwee Yin, 51, died due to the pressure to her neck after her husband Lee Kim Fook, 52, strangled her with his bare hand at their home in Taman Klasik here between 7am and 10am on June 28.
Lee, who worked as a printer, was yesterday sentenced to 12 years' jail after he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He was initially charged with murdering his wife, who worked at a Chinese traditional medicine shop here.
In mitigation, counsel Bob Arumugam, who represented the victim, told the High Court that Lee was agitated when Yap kept on arguing about the Kuantan Muncipal Council's parking ticket.
"He had no intention to kill or harm Yap. He lost control of himself and strangled her with one hand before pushing her down," he said, adding that Lee should be given a light punishment as he did not premeditate his action or use a weapon in the attack.
He also said that Lee was expecting his first grandchild as his only daughter was now pregnant.
However, deputy public prosecutor Salim Soib pushed for a severe punishment to deter others, especially husbands.
"As a husband, he should have always ensured the safety of his wife but in this case he was the one who caused her death. Arguments always occur in a marriage but it should never exceed the limit."
Judge Datuk Mariana Yahya, in sentencing, said she agreed that a wife should be loved and not be abused. She said the accused had pleaded guilty and the principle was always to give a balanced sentence after looking at the facts and ordered the jail term to begin from the arrest date on June 28.
According to the facts, Lee had strangled and pushed Yap against the wall before he knelt on the victim's chest which broke four of her ribs and punctured her spleen.
Lee later left the house after locking the front door from outside and only surrendered himself to the police at 8.45pm the same day after confessing to his younger brother that he had killed Yap.
Yap's body was discovered by her sister, brother-in-law and a neighbour who broke into her house about 1pm the same day.
They decided to enter the house after the neighbour told them that he had heard a heated argument inside the house earlier.
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