KUALA KANGSAR: A man arrested for allegedly beating and pushing his wife into a ravine pleaded not guilty at the Kuala Kangsar Sessions Court on Friday (Aug 16) to charges of criminal intimidation and attempted murder.
Mohd Azzuan Ahmad, 39, claimed trial after the charges were read before Sessions judge Rohaida Ishak, Sinar Harian reported.
On the first charge, the father of five is accused of criminal intimidation by making death threats against his wife Nor Diyanah Ahmad, 32, in a vehicle while travelling along the North-South Expressway towards Kuala Kangsar on the night of July 26.
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The offence under Section 506 of the Penal Code carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
For the second charge, Azzuan is accused of attempting to murder Nor Diyanah, causing her injury at the roadside near KM31.2 of the East-West Highway on the Gerik-Jeli route, in the Gerik district, between 4am and 5am on July 27.
The offence, under Section 307 of the Penal Code, carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
DPP Muhammad Firdaus Nor Azlan, who handled the case, did not offer bail for the accused as the victim is still his legal wife.
However, he stated that if the court allowed bail, the prosecution requested RM10,000 for the first charge and RM20,000 for the second charge, with additional conditions that the accused should not disturb the victim and must report to a police station once a month.
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The accused, represented by National Legal Aid Foundation lawyer Hennie Soraya Hanafi, requested the lowest possible bail for both charges, citing that he has no fixed income and needs to support his five school-going children.
She added that the accused is willing to live separately while the case is ongoing, residing at his mother's home in Baling, Kedah, far from the couple's marital home in Machang, Kelantan.
Rohaida did not allow bail and set Sept 19 for next mention of the case, and for the appointment of a lawyer.
On July 27, it was reported that a 32-year-old woman almost died at the hands of her husband after allegedly being beaten, strangled and pushed into a ravine following an argument.
The victim managed to save herself by crawling out of the ravine to the roadside, where she was found by passers-by at around 2pm the same day.
The suspect was arrested by Baling police in Kedah on July 31 following another case involving injury to his elder brother in that jurisdiction.
Gerik police then rearrested the suspect, who was remanded for seven days from Aug 6 to 12 for further investigation of the alleged crimes against his wife.
