The case of a man accused of attempting to murder his ex-wife has drawn fresh attention to the issue of domestic violence in Macao.
Law enforcement officials have confirmed that the suspect – who allegedly attacked the woman with a hammer on 26 June in Rua de Sacadura Cabral – had earlier stood trial on a domestic violence charge. He was acquitted after the woman refused to testify.
They said that he had also been suspected of other violent crimes in the past, without giving details, according to a report in Hoje Macau.
The suspect is currently in detention awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder, carrying weapons and threatening behaviour. The first charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years.
[See more: Domestic violence doubles in Macao in 2021]
The case comes just months after the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights met with local officials to express concern about what it saw as a lack of domestic violence protections in the city.
The committee’s draft report said it was “concerned that the law on preventing and combating domestic violence does not cover same-sex couples, and about reports of its insufficient implementation in the context of a relatively high report rate with the conversely proportionate low investigation and low prosecution rate.”
According to reports, there were 39 cases of suspected domestic violence in 2022, down from 81 in 2021.
