Spurned husband jailed 10 months for stabbing wife in front of two young sons

SINGAPORE - A removal man who stabbed his estranged wife in front of their two young sons was jailed for 10 months on Thursday.

Suresh David Narasimmalu, 29, had been on a Deepavali shopping and dinner trip with Ms Vasentha Kumari, 30, and their boys aged five and seven when the pair began arguing as they walked along Race Course Road in Little India.

He pulled out a Swiss army knife from his sling bag and stabbed her in the abdomen before fleeing in a taxi on Oct 18 last year.

Ms Kumari, who was left bleeding in front of her sons, called the police and needed emergency surgery. She spent six days in hospital.

Narasimmalu was arrested several hours later at the void deck of his brother's home.

The court heard that the couple were in the middle of a divorce.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Carene Poh said Narasimmalu's knife attack was "not only vicious but gratuitous".

In mitigation, Narasimmalu's defence lawyer said his client's actions were not premeditated but provoked by his wife - who had left him for a boyfriend.

He added that Narasimmalu had been "under enormous stress from the failed marriage, not being able to see his children daily and from the betrayal of the victim".

The defence lawyer also explained that Narasimmalu was carrying the knife as a work tool.

For voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous means, Narasimmalu could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined and caned.

andreang@sph.com.sg

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