PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered a 38-year-old woman to pay RM200,000 in damages to a housewife recently for knowingly causing the breakdown of a 45-year marriage.
According to FMT, judge Datin Evrol Mariette Peters also ordered the husband, a 74-year-old, who was found to have committed adultery, to pay a lump sum of RM205,000 in spousal maintenance to his 72-year-old wife.
The husband, identified as PAI, the mistress, anonymised as KAI, must also jointly pay RM100,000 in costs to the wife, referred to as HAI as per the court’s ruling.
The report further stated that the couple’s matrimonial assets will be divided equally.
During the initial court proceedings, PAI denied cheating on his wife, claiming he suffered from erectile dysfunction (ED).
However, in her judgement, Peters found that “the evidence, though circumstantial, painted a compelling and coherent narrative of an adulterous relationship between the husband and his mistress.”
Peters also pointed out that PAI failed to provide medical reports, expert testimony, or other documentation to support his claim.
“By continuing the adulterous relationship, the mistress exposed her complete indifference to the wife’s emotional well-being,“ Peters was quoted as saying.
Emails presented in court revealed that the mistress had actively encouraged the husband to divorce his wife, further destabilising the marriage.
The court heard that the husband and his mistress shared residences, stayed overnight at her home, and travelled together to Singapore.
Additionally, they also attempted to conceive a child through in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Peters also awarded HAI half the matrimonial assets, despite declining to apply a feminist approach to asset division.
“This was a fair distribution as the wife had sacrificed her profession and any entitlement to a salary or dividends from the family businesses,“ she said.
She noted that the wife had “raised six children and supported three grandchildren,“ and had also been the husband’s caregiver during periods of illness.
“Her unwavering dedication to the welfare of the family was another critical consideration,“ Peters added.
The couple married in 1977.
It is leant the wife, despite holding a diploma in business studies, gave up her professional aspirations to support her husband’s entrepreneurial ventures.
HAI also claimed that in September 2022, the husband admitted to his affair, prompting her to file for judicial separation the following month.
In her court appeal, HAI sought half the value of all movable and immovable assets gained during their marriage whilst holding the mistress accountable for the breakdown of their relationship.
