A magistrate who doubled as a marriage counsellor yesterday ordered the arrest of a couple undergoing separation proceedings to establish which of them was lying.
You’ve been provoking me for so long, I’ll hit you to kill you
Magistrate Carol Peralta wanted to force the truth out of a man whose estranged wife testified that he had threatened to kill her during a phone call in which they were discussing issues related to their children.
Names are not being published to protect their identity.
The woman testified that, at some point during the call, the man told her: “You’ve long been provoking me and if in the past I hit to hurt you, this time I’ll hit you to kill you.”
Sobbing throughout her testimony, the woman said she still loved her estranged husband.
When the man was testifying, the magistrate told him he wanted to hear the answer to just one question: “Is it true you said those things?”
When he denied it, Magistrate Peralta ordered the couple’s arrest and the police to investigate them for perjury. However, he put his arrest order on hold for a few minutes to give them time to think.
He warned them that if they were caught lying under oath, they could be imprisoned for a year.
When the case continued, the man said he wanted to change his previous version and admitted the charges.
The woman said in court that her husband preferred her colleague to her and it hurt to see photos of the two kissing on Facebook.
“Do you know she said she still loves you,” the magistrate told the accused, who shrugged his shoulders, with his lawyer saying the couple’s love had died out.
This led the woman to burst into tears again, saying their children were the fruit of their love.
Magistrate Peralta ordered the two lawyers to approach the bench and he was informed that the woman was withdrawing the criminal complaint against her husband.
The magistrate revoked his arrest order and warned the man to speak to his estranged wife only on issues related to their children or maintenance, which he had been informed the man was not paying.