In one of the lightest sentences handed out for culpable homicide, a man was sentenced to two years in jail for killing his wife during a bout of psychosis, The Straits Times reported.
Severely impaired by psychotic delusions, 69-year-old Kong Peng Yee slashed his wife of 36 years with a knife and a chopper at their Sengkang home in March last year. The man had developed delusional beliefs that his family was trying to harm him, and he decided to strike first by killing his wife, 63-year-old Wong Chik Yeok.
Prosecutors had originally sought for at least nine years in jail for Kong — a sentence that was denied by the presiding High Court judge Choo Han Teck, who noted that punishment was probably “not the most appropriate response”.
Nonetheless, the circumstances of Wong’s death was still tragic. Her husband had been behaving oddly in the days leading up to the killing; Kong believed that his daughter was not his biological child and he was growing paranoid that someone was out to hurt him.
On March 13, he woke up from a nap and proceeded to grab a kitchen knife before stabbing his wife until she was dead. Suffering a total of 189 injuries, Wong bled to death from multiple slash wounds to the head.
According to police reports, Kong said that his mind had told him to “make sure she die”. He was said to be “happy” upon realizing that she was dead. A psychiatric assessment by the Institute of Mental Health revealed that Kong’s mental responsibility had been substantially impaired by his psychotic delusions.
Kong had his initial charge of murder reduced after the psychiatric report, and he pleaded guilty to culpable homicide instead last month. His jail term was backdated to the date of his remand last year, and Kong could be released from prison today, considering his good behavior. Additionally, his disorder is in remission with medication, and he has been certified safe to be returned to his family.
“Given those circumstances, a reasonable man may fairly wonder why any punishment is even required?” said Justice Choo of Kong’s mental ailment.
“His madness is its own punishment.”
