Shahnaz tells court how ex-husband, Taib’s son, abused her
Shahnaz A. Majid wept in court today as she recounted the physical, emotional and mental trauma she suffered during her marriage to Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Abdul Taib, the son of the Sarawak chief minister.
In between sobs, Shahnaz related how she was beaten, punched, kicked and assaulted from 1994 to 1998 and the reasons why she stayed with her husband despite being abused.
"Usually, there was no specific reason for his violent behaviour. We would be talking, I would disagree with him and he would just beat me up," she said when questioned by her counsel, Akbardin Abdul Kader, at the Syariah High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.
"He would hit me on the head, shoulder and even kick me in the stomach."
And despite all this, Shahnaz admitted she did not lodge any police report nor seek medical treatment.
"How could I? His family is very influential in Sarawak. His father is the chief minister (Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud) of the state. I can't embarrass him. I must guard my ex-husband's good name.
"I did on one occasion tell his sister but nothing changed. So what else could I do? Just take it all, pray and be patient."
Shahnaz, who is jazz singer Datuk Sheila Majid's sister, was testifying in the trial of her application to get RM300 million in matrimonial properties and RM100 million in gifts (mutaah) as a divorce settlement.
Shahnaz, 50, is also claiming 50% of all assets owned by Mahmud Abu Bekir. These include luxury cars, houses in various locations, land in Sarawak and shares.
The divorce settlement proceedings are shining a light on the purported wealth of the Sarawak chief minister's family.
In court papers filed during her divorce application, Shahnaz had sought to have Mahmud Abu Bekir's assets - among which she listed seven luxury cars, thousands of hectares of land in Sarawak and shares in 15 companies - declared as joint property and for it to be halved.
Shahnaz and Mahmud Abu Bekir were married on January 9, 1992, and they have a son, Raden Myura Abdul Taib Mahmud, 20.
They were married for 19 years and four months before Mahmud Abu Bekir filed for divorce on May 11, 2011.
She said she was assaulted at her home, in the car and even in a long bath in her bathroom, she told the court today.
She suffered bruises and on one occasion had a bruised eye for a week.
"I could not read or watch television," she said, adding that she was traumatised and lived in fear.
"In 1997, I suffered a miscarriage due to the pressure and stress from our marriage and work. Although Mahmud took me to the hospital, he blamed me for the miscarriage."
Shahnaz broke down again when she told the court how she suffered mentally and emotionally when he verbally abused her.
"He likes to use vulgarity. He would swear at me, call me a bitch, desperate, old and crazy.
"He also once asked me why I didn't commit suicide," she said as she wiped her tears.
"These were the words from my husband, whom I had relied on."
Shahnaz said it was then she knew there was nothing left in their marriage.
She told the court that to further add insult to injury, her husband brought an Australian woman to his sister's wedding in August, 2000.
"He completely ignored me. He embarrassed me and my family in front of our neighbours, business contacts...basically in front of everyone in Kuching," she said.
"About two weeks after the incident, he called and asked me when I was going to get out of the house. I was shocked and asked him what he was talking about.
"He told me that the Australian woman did not have enough closet space.
"I don't know how to describe how I felt that moment. I didn't even ask him who the woman was, whether they were married. I was just stunned."
Shahnaz eventually packed her things and left for Kuala Lumpur with their son.
Hearing before Judge Muhamad Abdul Karim Wahab continues this afternoon.
In her earlier testimony, Shahnaz, who was a director of the family-owned Cahaya Mata Sarawak Berhad, also told the court that she had been deprived of nafkah batin (sexual intercourse) for 10 years during their marriage.
The trial had actually begun from September 24 until December 24 last year, where various testimonies of Mahmud Abu Bekir's assets and accounts, allegedly amounting to billions of ringgit, were disclosed.
Subsequently in March this year, the Syariah Court of Appeal, in allowing Mahmud Abu Bekir's application, ordered a retrial of the RM400 million divorce case, before another judge at the highest religious court found that the mutaah hearing was not conducted according to procedure.
The court then ordered the matter to be re-heard. - September 2, 2013.
