A 61-year-old man has been sentenced to three years' and three months' jail after he suffocated his wife with a plastic bag and robbed her of her valuables.

During his hearing on Monday (Nov. 25), the court heard that Govindarajan S/O Thiruvengadam Uthirapathy tried to suffocate his 56-year-old wife, Ellapur Selvi d/o Chanthenatever, after she wouldn't stop complaining him, reported Lianhe Wanbao.

Wife wanted him to help son and daughter-in-law

The incident happened on Apr. 6, 2018 at the couple's flat along Woodlands Street 32.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Govindarajan's wife had just finished talking on the phone with her daughter-in-law.

Her son and daughter-in-law were fighting and Govindarajan's wife started nagging her husband to help them resolve their conflict.

After getting off the phone with her daughter-in-law, the wife started complaining about the problems between her son and her daughter-in-law to her husband.

Stressed by his wife, Govindarajan started to fume. He felt that his wife was pressuring him to resolve his son and daughter-in-law's problems.

He went to the kitchen to retrieve a plastic bag before approaching his wife who was lying on the sofa.

Govindarajan then attacked her from behind and used the plastic bag to cover her head.

He tightened the bag around her head and choked her while angrily telling her to die.

Govindarajan's wife pleaded with him as she struggled and started wheezing. She involuntarily wet herself and lost consciousness.

According to a Health Sciences Authority forensic pathologist, Govindarajan would have taken between 15 seconds and three minutes to suffocate his wife, as she did not suffer any irreversible brain damage.

Snatched her gold chain and purse

Seeing that his wife had fainted, Govindarajan removed her S$4,250 gold chain from her neck as well as her wallet from her purse in her bedroom cupboard, which contained about S$300 in cash as well as her credit cards. He then left the house without checking on her.

He then pawned the gold chain for S$4,250, and met up with his mistress, Tanalechumi A/P Subramaniam. He used some of the money to buy clothes and nose studs for her, as well as other items for her aunt, but the majority of it (S$3,791.50) is still unaccounted for.

When they tried to leave for Malaysia the next day, both Govindarajan and his lover were apprehended at the Woodlands Checkpoint.

Meanwhile, when his wife regained consciousness at about 5:30pm, she realised her wallet was missing and called her daughter who rushed over to the house.

She felt pain in her neck and the left side of her abdomen, but asked her daughter not to call the police and even went ahead to work the night shift at a hospital.

However, her pain intensified at the hospital to the point where she was crying in pain and nearly fainted. It was then that she was hospitalised, but it was only till later at night that she told her examining doctor what had happened, because she was embarrassed. She was hospitalised for seven days.

For his crimes, Govindarajan could have been jailed for up to 15 years, fined or both.

Top image via The Spectator.