Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of assaulting his wife appeared in District Court last week. He’s being charged with third degree assault and private peace disturbance.

The government alleges that around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night, a woman called the Tafuna Police Substation for assistance, after her daughter was allegedly assaulted by her husband. The officers arrived shortly thereafter and a woman, who was later identified as the mother of the victim explained the incident to police.

According to the victim’s mother, she was at their other house when she heard her daughter screaming for help from the house where she stays with her husband and three young children. She rushed to offer help to her daughter, but when she arrived, she saw her son-in-law (defendant) choking his wife (victim) with one hand, while he was holding a kitchen knife in his other hand. According to the victim’s mother, her son-in-law pointed the knife straight at his wife’s throat.

Her son-in-law left the house and ran outside into the dark when he heard her yell at him. As he ran away, he yelled out to his wife (victim) saying that he would kill her when he came back home.

When interviewed by police, the victim claims that her husband cussed at her and accused her of using him to feed her family, yet he knows that she is having an affair with another man in their village.

The victim told police that as she was trying to calm her husband down, he started throwing punches at her in front of their 3 young children. She pushed him away but he grabbed a cooking knife and put it to her throat while choking her using his other hand.

For her safety, the victim then requested police to detain her husband because he threatened to assault her again when he comes home.

The defendant was later apprehended by police after which he was booked and confined at the TCF.

After his initial appearance, the defendant was remanded to custody until he can post a $1,000 bond, subject to the condition that he shall not have any direct or indirect contact with his wife.

He’s scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 30 for his pretrial conference.