Man arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife — said she needed discipline for disrespecting him
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The 35-year old man who was accused of assaulting his wife inside their house in Ottoville village while he was heavily intoxicated told police that the reason he did this was because he wanted to discipline his wife for disrespecting him.
The defendant spent one night at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) before making his initial appearance in Court last month, where he entered a not guilty plea to the two misdemeanor charges against him.
The government has charged the defendant with 3rd-degree assault and public peace disturbance. He was released on his own recognizance subject to the conditions that he find another place to stay, and refrain from trying to make any more contact with his wife.
The case was reported to police by the victim’s sister, who noticed bruises on the victim’s face early Sunday morning. Asking her sister what happened, the victim replied that her husband had beat her up the night before, but she didn’t want to report the matter to police because she didn’t want to lose him. He is the father of her two young children and the only person working to support their family.
After hearing the victim’s statement, the sister decided to report the matter to police.
When questioned by police officers, the victim stated that she’s not blaming her husband for what he did to her because, her husband provides money for their children’s food, but she uses it to play “bonus number”.
The government claims the alleged incident happened on Saturday night when the defendant heard from their neighbors that there are nights his wife leaves their children in the care of one of their neighbors while going to hang around with some other women in Tafuna. The defendant is an employee of StarKist Samoa and he works the night shift.
When the defendant confronted his wife about the money on Saturday morning, the wife admitted that she used some of the money to pay for her Bonus number.
The defendant then left the house and returned home very intoxicated and while his wife and children were asleep, the defendant allegedly assaulted his wife.