SINGAPORE: A woman who stabbed her husband to death with a foldable knife in Ang Mo Kio, in December 2023, was jailed for 31 months on Tuesday (Oct 14).
Baniyah Shap, 52, pleaded guilty to seven charges, including one charge of causing the death of her husband, Mohamed Ali Saaban, 62, by performing a rash act.
Ali had a puncture wound on his right thigh.
Court documents stated that Shap was involved in a scuffle with Ali shortly before midnight on Dec 11, 2023, at the void deck of Block 631 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4.
The incident occurred after Ali tried to stop Shap from shouting at her brother and a friend over a misunderstanding about their relationship.
During their scuffle, Shap dropped a bunch of keys and the knife attached to it, causing the knife’s blade to pop out.
She then fully extended the blade, and held the knife as she continued to struggle with her husband.
At one point, she swung the knife and struck Ali on his thigh, and he bled profusely.
Shap picked up the bunch of keys with the knife and went home to wash and hide the items before returning to the void deck with a blanket.
At the void deck, she shouted at the crowd that had gathered to not call the police or an ambulance. By then, Ali was unconscious and unresponsive.
He was later taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, where he died. He was pronounced dead at around noon on Dec 12, 2023.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Chan Yi Cheng noted that Shap had exerted excessive violence, given that Ali did not inflict significant injuries on her during their altercation.
He added: “The accused’s post-incident reaction further reveals her lack of remorse, having first gone home to clean and hide the knife, and later on returning to the scene and attempting to stop others from giving aid to the deceased.”
Shap’s lawyer Taufiq Suraidi argued that her reaction after the incident could not be interpreted as lacking remorse as she was in a state of panic and shock.
Shap, who appeared in court via video link, faced a total of 15 charges, including one for possessing a weapon in a public place, and for cheating and engaging in a conspiracy with several unknown people to facilitate unauthorised access to the computer systems of multiple banks.
Some of her other charges relate to creating bank accounts and relinquishing them to unknown persons to carry out unauthorised transactions between 2022 and 2023.
One of the accounts, created in May 2023, was used to launder more than $60,000 from three scam victims.
For causing death by a rash act, she could have been jailed for five years, fined, or both.
For engaging in a conspiracy with others, she could have been jailed for two years and fined up to s$5,000.
For possessing an offensive weapon, an offender can be jailed for up to three years and receive up to six strokes of the cane. Women cannot be caned.
Shap’s sentence was backdated to Dec 12, 2023, when she was arrested. - The Straits Times/ANN
