Syamsul Yusof shakes his head and shows peace sign when questioned if he hit Puteri Sarah

Clad in an all-black outfit, Syamsul appears calm as he enters the court premises. Photos: Azman Ghani/The Star

When asked whether it’s true what his first wife, Puteri Sarah, revealed in court – that he hit her three years ago – Syamsul Yusof just shook his head.

The 38-year-old director-actor also showed the peace sign to the journalists who made the enquiry outside of the courtroom where the proceedings of Puteri Sarah’s divorce application took place.

According to a report by mStar – The Star’s Malay-language portal – Syamsul also made a sign that indicated that there is only one God.

The Mat Kilau director arrived at the Syariah Lower Court in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (March 7) around 9am to attend the first mention of Puteri Sarah’s divorce application, with his lawyer Rushdan Sujak and his bodyguard.

Clad in an all-black outfit, mask and dark glasses, Syamsul appeared calm as he entered the court premises.

Before entering the courtroom, he apparently said: “Assalamuailaikum. It’s been a long time since you heard my voice, right?”

During the proceeding before Syarie judge Akmalludin Ilyas, Syamsul stated through his lawyer that he’s refusing to divorce his first wife, Puteri Sarah.

The 37-year Puteri Sarah filed the divorce application on Jan 16, in accordance with Section 47 of the Islamic Family Law Act (Federal Territories) 1984.

Her divorce application came 10 days after Syamsul announced on Instagram that he married Ira Kazar to be his second wife.

Since then, Puteri Sarah took to Instagram several times to voice her displeasure at being married to Syamsul. While admitting Syamsul is a good father to their two children, she alleged that he wasn’t a good husband.

Last week, she shared what she wanted from her divorce application proceeding was "to be released from this (situation) so I can move on".

She hoped that the court would rule in her favour.

However, the outcome was the judge ordering both parties to appoint a conciliatory committee (JPK) in their divorce case.

Meanwhile, Syamsul – after making two pleas on social media for their marital issues to be kept out of the public eye – decided not to say anything on the matter.

Instead, he chose to give updates on the movie he's currently working on, titled The Original Gangster, even sharing videos of his two children at times.

Puteri Sarah and Syamsul were married on March 8, 2014 and have two children, Shaikul Islam, six, and Sumayyah, four.

Puteri Sarah had hoped the court would rule in her favour. Alas, that is not the case.