| A man who slashed his wife's forehead after she removed her headscarf and coloured her hair has been jailed for five months and will get one stroke of the cane. Magistrate Normazaida Ahmad Narihan imposed the sentence on Monday after Mohd Azhar Ngah, 34, who was separated from his wife, Madam Rafidah Ibrahim, admitted that he was guilty of the offence. The court heard that he went to his wife's house on March 28 on the pretext of visiting their children. He wanted to reconcile with his wife and got angry when she refused. He assaulted her with a chair and also used a knife to cut her forehead and hair. The prosecuting officer, Chief Inspector A. Vasu, also said Mohd Azhar was angry with Rafidah because she had coloured her hair and refused to wear a tudung, or Muslim headscarf. Mohd Azhar was arrested on March 29 and police found a handful of hair belonging to Rafidah and the knife that was used to injure her. Chief Inspector Vasu urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence. He said Mohd Azhar had not only injured Rafidah, the woman he was married to for 12 years, but had also violated her rights as an individual by assaulting her when she refused to wear a tudung. 'He should have referred the matter to the religious authorities instead of taking drastic action by slashing her forehead,' he said. Mohd Azhar, who was not represented by a lawyer, pleaded for a lenient sentence. |