12 years for killing wife after testicle jibe

A Papua New Guinean didn't have the right to fatally kick his wife after her testicle jibe during an argument over a betel nut, a court has decided.

Villager Michael Langan Sapri, 44, from the Kandrian area of West New Britain Province in PNG's north island region, has been sentenced to 12 years' jail after he fatally kicked his wife in the abdomen.

Faith Amsiling, 32, had told her husband he should chew one of his testicles rather than a betel nut.

Chewing betel nuts, a natural mild stimulant, is a popular PNG custom.

PNG's National court heard the couple had been sitting together in the capital Port Moresby when Sapri asked his wife about the whereabouts of some missing betel nuts.

An argument ensued and after the testicle-jibe Sapri kicked his wife in the abdomen, in what turned out to be a fatal assault.

Justice David Canning sentenced Sapri for manslaughter and said Sapri's testicle provocation defence was flawed.

"That, of course, is not a defence, though it might be considered a mitigating factor as it explains to some extent why he (Sapri) was angry," he said.

"The fact is Sapri kicked Faith on her left side, she suffered a ruptured spleen.

"He killed her without any lawful justification or excuse."