A man who allegedly set his wife on fire which
resulted in her death told a Malaysia High Court yesterday, April 7 that his
wife had refused to give him money to settle a gambling debt.
Chiam Nguang Huat, 42, said he had made a telephone call to ask for
RM10,000 from his wife, Lai Siew Fong, 36, for a gambling debt.
"I asked for RM10,000 because I needed the money to pay a gambling debt. But my wife said ‘You fikir sendiri’
(You think on your own) and asked me to ‘go die’ before hanging up on
me. I called her again but the phone had been turned off, the former
loan shark said when testifying in his defence before Judicial
Commissioner
Datuk Nordin Hassan.
Chiam is charged with murdering Lai at their home in Taman Bayu Mutiara, Bukit Mertajam, at around 4pm on June 24, 2013. He also said that upon reaching home, he saw his wife and daughter seated on the sofa.
"I
asked my wife, ‘Is it true you want to see me die? If it’s true, I will
die in front of you right now. My wife tried to snatch a small mineral
bottle containing petrol,
which I was holding and during the struggle, the petrol was splashed on
my body and my wife’s and suddenly, fire struck," he said during
examination-in-chief by his counsel Y. Anbananthan.
The former hawker, said he had quarrelled with his wife
several times during their marriage because she listened to her family
and refused to give him money.
During cross-examination by DPP Amir Hamdzah Othman, Chiam said he
was holding the bottle containing petrol with his right hand and a
cigarette butt in his left hand.
Amir Hamdzah also suggested to Chiam that if he had wanted to kill
himself, there were many ways to do so. To this, Chiam replied that he
was not thinking much at the time.
The
judicial Commissioner told both parties to submit their written
submissions on or before April 28. He also fixed May 3 for further
submissions, if there is a need, and May 24 for decision.
Post a Comment