JOHOR BAHRU, Jan 2 — A 46-year-old housewife and her alleged boyfriend claimed trial at the Sessions Court here today to a charge of attempting to murder her husband last week.

The housewife, N. Egavalli, and 38-year-old R. Kamala Sarna, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read out before Judge Mohd Zamir Suhaimee.

According to the charge sheet, both were jointly charged with attempting to kill G. Kumaresan, 48, by smothering his face with a pillow at a house along Jalan EJ 9/6 in Taman Ehsan Jaya here at 9.30pm on December 22.

The act was said to be capable of causing death.

They were charged under Section 307 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 for joint criminal liability, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine upon conviction.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy Public Prosecutor R. Nevina, while both accused were represented by National Legal Aid Foundation counsel K. Bharathi.

Earlier, Nevina requested that the court deny bail, citing the seriousness of the attempted murder charge.

However, Bharathi applied for bail, arguing that Egavalli needs to care for her two children, aged 17 and 21, who are persons with disabilities and have non-verbal autism.

He said there was no reason for Egavalli to flee as she had parental responsibilities and requested bail with additional conditions imposed by the court.

Bharathi also said Kamala Sarna is married and has a child to care for.

The court allowed bail of RM20,000 for each accused, with two sureties.

Both accused were ordered to surrender their international passports and report to the nearest police station.

They were also prohibited from contacting the victim or prosecution witnesses.

Mohd Zamir fixed February 3 for mention, pending the submission of documents.

Earlier, Malay Mail reported that police had arrested a married woman and her boyfriend to assist in investigations into the attempted murder of the woman’s husband at their family home in Taman Ehsan Jaya.

Investigators said the suspects attempted to suffocate the 47-year-old victim with a pillow while he was asleep at about 9pm on December 22.

The victim reportedly managed to struggle free and alerted police later that evening.

Both suspects were arrested the following day, with investigators believing the incident may be linked to an insurance claim.