A 24-year-old Fanafo man, Harold Visvis, has been sentenced to 30 months and 22 days in prison after pleading guilty to intentionally assaulting his wife, who was five months pregnant at the time, in an incident followed by the stillbirth of their unborn child.
Chief Justice (CJ) Vincent Lunabek delivered the sentence in the Supreme Court on August 18, 2026, after Visvis pleaded guilty to one count of intentional assault causing death under section 107(d) of the Penal Code [CAP 135].
The court heard that on September 24, 2023, at Fanafo, Santo, Visvis became angry after his wife, Cecile Aisonmon, told him she intended to swim in a nearby river.
Visvis refused to fetch water for her and, after she said she would go to the river, grabbed her by the shoulder, pulled her into their house and locked the door.
He slapped her four times on the head and punched her near the abdomen.
Aisonmon, who was pregnant at the time, experienced severe pain and later noticed bleeding while bathing. She was taken to the Fanafo clinic before giving birth at about 1am the following morning.
The baby, weighing approximately 900 grams, was stillborn.
Additional medical evidence presented to the court found that Aisonmon was approximately 26 weeks pregnant at the time of the assault and delivered about 10 hours later.
The medical opinion said physical trauma was a recognised potential cause of fetal compromise and death, although the available evidence could not establish with medical certainty whether the assault definitively caused the baby’s death.
The court nevertheless found that the assault was a possible and medically plausible contributor to the fetal death.
CJ Lunabek identified several aggravating factors, including the serious breach of trust between husband and wife, the fact that the victim was pregnant, the deliberate locking of her inside the house before the assault and the targeting of vulnerable areas of her body.
The court also noted that the offending occurred in the vicinity of the victim’s home, where she should have felt safe.
In determining the appropriate sentence, the CJ applied the common-law doctrine of transferred malice, under which the unlawful intention behind an assault can transfer to the actual harm caused to another victim.
The court also considered the principle of recklessness, noting that Visvis knew his wife was pregnant and nevertheless punched her near the abdomen.
The court set a starting point of five years’ imprisonment.
However, Visvis received several deductions. He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, earning a one-third reduction of 20 months. A further six months was deducted for mitigating circumstances, including his remorse, cooperation with police, lack of previous convictions and the custom compensation he made to his wife and her family.
The court also deducted two months because of the two-year-and-eight-month delay before the case was prosecuted.
Visvis had spent two weeks and five days in custody following his arrest on October 4, 2023, before being released on bail on October 23, 2023. This was credited against his sentence.
After all deductions, the final sentence was reduced to 30 months and 22 days’ imprisonment.
CJ Lunabek declined to suspend the sentence, saying imprisonment was necessary to mark the seriousness of the offence, express public disapproval, deter similar offending, punish Visvis and, importantly, protect pregnant mothers and their unborn children.
Visvis was ordered to begin serving the sentence immediately and was informed that he has 14 days to appeal against the sentence if he is dissatisfied with it.
