Don’t attack your husband with a cleaver, even if you don’t love him anymore. That was more or less the message a magistrate had for a woman who saw her charges dropped yesterday after she was arrested last month for allegedly going after her spouse with a blade in an argument over chores.
Pu Shurong, 42, was arrested in February after a dispute over unfolded laundry with her husband, Leung Wing-yin, 60.
Local media reported at the time that Leung had complained about the pile of laundry and the general messiness of the house — a sore subject for Pu. Pu reportedly went into the kitchen of their home at the Oi Man Estate in Ho Man Tin, got a meat cleaver, and attacked Leung, who sustained cuts to his left arm and shoulder.
But during a recent hearing, the court heard that Pu had actually stabbed Leung in the abdomen with a fruit knife, then used the cleaver to cut him on the shoulder, forearm, and leg.
Apple Daily reports that during questioning, Pu told the police she “only used an apple to hit him.”
Pu was charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm — which carries a maximum sentence of three years — but the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court heard at a hearing yesterday that prosecution were dropping the charge because Leung refused to testify against his wife, Oriental Daily reports.
Because the charge was dropped, principal Magistrate Bernadette Woo Huey-fang instead put the defendant on a HK$2,000 (US$255) good behavior bond for 18 months, and warned Pu that if she violated the conditions of the bond she would be immediately sent to jail.
The prosecution also told the court that Leung was willing to sign the bond as guarantor.
Woo told Pu that she was very lucky her husband had decided to let the matter go, saying: “A fruit knife and a cleaver, this case is very serious. I have no idea why your husband wants to be your guarantor.”
The court heard that the couple married in 2002 and have twin daughters, now 17-years-old. In 2005, Pu, who is from Guangzhou, was granted a one-way permit to immigrate to Hong Kong to be with Leung, who also hails from Guangzhou but has lived in Hong Kong for decades.
But the marriage was reportedly not a happy one, and the court heard the couple would often argue over trivial things. Leung even told reporters gathered outside the courtroom that Pu had often threatened him with a knife and scolded him for not giving her money to support the family.
Woo, meanwhile, offered Pu some relationship advice at yesterday’s hearing.
“It doesn’t matter if you still love him or not. Don’t bully him. He gave you a better future allowing you to come to Hong Kong. If you don’t love him, consider a divorce instead. Don’t resort to domestic violence.”
Reader Interactions