Man abducted wife, doused her with petrol, threatened to kill her

Upset that his estranged wife rejected his attempts at reconciliation, a man threatened to kill her after abducting the woman and dousing her with petrol.

He also threatened to kill himself.

Murugan Nondoh, now 40, also told his close friend that he was not going to "let anyone have the victim since he cannot have her", said Deputy Public Prosecutor Delicia Tan.

Police arrested him at the Tuas Checkpoint and rescued his wife Krishnaveny Subramaniam, 40, at around 11pm on July 2, 2019. The Malaysian couple were on the way back to Johor Baru.

Murugan, who appeared in a district court in Singapore via video-link on Wednesday, pleaded guilty to multiple charges over offences that included abduction, criminal intimidation and assault.

The court heard that the couple were married in 2007 and lived in Johor Baru.

The marriage soured, and police learnt in their investigations that Murugan was physically abusive towards his wife. He was also in debt because of his gambling habits.

In March 2019, Murugan accused his wife of having an affair, which she denied.

Later that month, she moved into her mother's home in Johor Baru, and filed for divorce.

Murugan tried to reconcile with his wife but she refused to get back together with him.

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In June that year, he found out from his sister that Ms Krishnaveny had managed to secure a job in Singapore and started turning up at her workplace in Woodlands.

On July 2, 2019, Ms Krishnaveny was talking to her niece in Malaysia on the phone while walking out of her workplace on July 1 when Murugan rode towards her on his motorcycle from behind.

DPP Tan said: "The accused used his arm to grab her neck from behind. The victim struggled to break free and shouted for help while crying... She also dropped her handphone."

The call was not disconnected and the niece heard the commotion between the couple. She then told her mother, who alerted the police in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Murugan grabbed and forced Ms Krishnaveny to go with him after emptying a bottle of petrol on her and threatening to set her on fire. Over the next five hours, they rode around aimlessly before finally stopping at a cemetery in Old Choa Chu Kang Road.

Throughout the evening, he told his wife multiple times that he would burn her and kill himself afterwards.

But they talked and Murugan eventually agreed to take his wife back to Malaysia.

While at the Tuas Checkpoint, police moved in to rescue Ms Krishnaveny and arrest Murugan.

She was found to have bruises and petroleum product ingestion at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

Murugan will be sentenced on Sept 29.