AN ODD-JOB worker who threw his wife down 13 floors from a block of flats in Stirling Road two years ago was sentenced to death on Monday.

Convicting Tharema Vejayan Govindasamy of murder, Justice Tay Yong Kwang said that arguments that Madam Smaelmeeral Abdul Aziz, 32, a production operator, could have committed suicide was not supported by the evidence.

The High Court was also not convinced that Tharema was suffering a paranoid delusion caused by his belief that he had been cursed by black magic.

Defence lawyer S. Radakrishnan had also argued that Tharema was severely intoxicated and was not aware of what he was doing.

The odd-job worker, 40, had testified that his sister-in-law, Madam Hametah Abdul Aziz, had placed a hex to wreck his marriage as he had refused to convert to Islam. Her family are Muslims while Tharema is a Hindu.

Tharema said that because of the spell he heard voices and could not see properly because of a black spot affecting his vision. He consulted bomohs in Singapore, Batam and Johor but they were unable to help him.

About the time his second child was born in November 2005, his marriage was also falling apart. The couple fought frequently and Tharema would beat his wife.

She had also caught him in bed with another woman in their matrimonial flat in Jurong West.

His beatings led Madam Smaelmeeral to move out. She then had love affairs with two men while her divorce was pending.

On June 30, 2007, she went clubbing with two good friends. Confiding in them that she still loved Tharema, she called him at about 4am the next day.

When Tharema met her at a bus stop in Stirling Road, he became incensed when he found her drinking from a bottle of beer. He also thought that she was indecently dressed her bare-back top

They started arguing. He hit her repeatedly, causing her tooth to dislodge itself. He later dragged her to Block 181, from where he pushed her over the parapet of the 13th floor.