SINGAPORE: A man in the midst of divorce proceedings saw his wife in a car with another man and demanded that they alight at a traffic junction.
When they refused, he climbed onto the bonnet, hit the car before getting into his van and ramming the vehicle from behind.
His wife injured her spine and neck because of the incident.
Norfarhan Mohamad Dahlan, a 42-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail on Wednesday (Mar 6).
He pleaded guilty to one count of criminal intimidation, with a second charge of a rash act endangering personal safety taken into consideration.
The court heard that Norfarhan was undergoing divorce proceedings with his wife at the time.
He had also assaulted her in February 2023, and she obtained an expedited order against him.
On the night of Apr 7 last year, the woman boarded a white Suzuki car at the Sengkang home she lived in with her then-husband.
The car was rented by her friend, and they intended to head to the Singapore Expo together.
Norfarhan saw the other man drive off and decided to follow in his van, as he wanted to find out the identity of the man and suspected he was having an affair with his wife.
Norfarhan’s wife and her friend stopped at a red light near the road junction of Sengkang West Road and Yio Chu Kang Road.
Norfarhan parked his van behind the Suzuki and alighted to confront the pair.
He shouted at them and asked them to alight, but they refused, fearing for their safety.
Norfarhan climbed onto the bonnet of the Suzuki and repeatedly hit it, demanding the pair to alight and challenging the man to a fight.
Norfarhan then went back to his van and drove it into the Suzuki, while the lights were red.
The Suzuki lurched forward.
Norfarhan’s wife called the police for help.
Meanwhile, Norfarhan was upset that the pair remained in the Suzuki. He took a hammer from his van and demanded that they alight.
He held the hammer and threatened his wife, saying: “You leave you will die for sure.”
He also threatened to break the car windows.
An off-duty police officer drove by and approached Norfarhan. Norfarhan put down the hammer when the officer requested it, and other police officers arrived shortly.
Other concerned passers-by had also made complaints to the police.
Norfarhan’s wife suffered pain and stiffness in her neck, as well as tenderness over her spine, with limited range of motion.
The incident also dented the rear of the Suzuki.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Louis Ngia asked for eight to 10 weeks’ jail for Norfarhan, saying that the fear caused by his threat was “serious and obvious”.
Norfarhan has previous convictions, including a traffic offence for driving without a valid licence.
At the time of the crimes, he had been recently released from a drug rehabilitation centre for consuming methamphetamine and was under a drug supervision order.
The judge told Norfarhan that this was not the first time he had been sentenced in court.
“I do hope you will remember to try to control your emotions a bit better and do not use violence to solve your problems, you understand?” he said.
Norfarhan agreed.
For criminal intimidation, he could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
