Woman, 39, arrested after bloody fight with husband in Punggol flat

A 39-year-old woman was apprehended under the Mental Health Act yesterday (May 12) after a fight broke out between her and her husband, resulting in a smashed ashtray and injuries sustained by both parties. 

The incident took place in the wee hours of the morning at Block 207C, Punggol Place, the police told AsiaOne. 

Blood was splattered across the walls and floor outside the flat, as well as within the unit's living room, a Lianhe Wanbao reporter observed. There was also a white t-shirt stained with blood at the scene.

A neighbour told the Chinese evening daily they started hearing sounds of an argument coming from the couple's flat around midnight.

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Another resident recounted how she was woken up by the pair's yelling, as well as the crying of a child. She opened her door and saw police officers standing outside. 

She said: "I could only see a woman sitting on the ground saying: 'I didn't hit him, I didn't hit him.'"

It was believed that during the couple's argument, someone had smashed an ashtray, injuring both of them. However, they refused to be taken to hospital.

Before the circuit breaker started on April 7, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said in Parliament that he noted a trend in "higher rates of domestic violence, domestic quarrels and friction in the family" in countries that had imposed movement restrictions.

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On April 23, the ministry observed a 14 per cent increase in enquiries related to domestic violence and conflict as compared to the previous two weeks. Meanwhile, family violence specialists centres and PAVE Integrated Services for Individual and Family Protection saw a 37 per cent increase.

The task force on family violence, co-chaired by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs Sun Xueling and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, has since stepped up support for victims of family violence when their cases go into the criminal justice system.

Associate Professor Faishal added: "During this circuit breaker period, we can and will continue to collectively help families manage stress so that family conflicts do not escalate into violence."

rainercheung@asiaone.com

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