Husband slashes wife in domestic dispute

TANGERANG (JP): An angry man severely slashed his 25-year-old wife in the neck at their rented house on Jl. Tanah Seratus in Sudimara Jaya, Ciledug, on Monday morning.

Police are still questioning Sarif, 30, a vegetable supplier in Jakarta, over his motives in attacking Witarini, whom he married about a year ago.

But the victim, who received several stitches for the 25- centimeter wound to her neck, said her husband might have been upset after his request to sell the sole blender in the house to one of his friends.

The request, however, was opposed by his wife.

"We don't have any financial problems. That's why I thought we didn't need to sell the blender," Witarini told reporters from her bed at Tangerang General Hospital.

But the victim insisted that she could not understand the real reason Sarif tried to end her life in such a brutal way.

"Our one-year-old marriage was a harmonious one," she explained.

According to Witarini and neighbors, the couple woke up at about 2 a.m. to have their sahur (morning meal prior to fasting) in order to perform their weekly fasts on Mondays and Thursdays.

After having the meal, they returned to bed and woke up again at 5 a.m. for the Subuh prayer.

"After the prayer, we went back to sleep again and got up at 7 a.m.," Witarini explained.

She initially attempted to take a bath as she was soon to go to work. But she decided against it as there were too many people waiting to use the outside bathroom, the only one available for dwellers of the rented houses in the area.

The owner of the houses, Madani, was also waiting to use the bathroom.

Witarini said she then decided to lie on the bed and wait.

A few minutes later, she felt that someone had sliced her neck with a sharp weapon. Wartini said she hastily bit the shoulder of the suspect and ran outside screaming for help with a towel covering her neck to stop the blood.

"I saw the face of my husband and he looked evil," she recalled.

The line of people in front of the toilet abruptly dissipated as they rushed to the couple's house to apprehend Sarif.

Witarini has since decided to divorce her husband. (41/bsr)