A man with a long history of alcohol abuse was remanded in custody on Tuesday after allegedly beating his wife, whom he suspected of cheating on him.

Christhoppan Siluvapillai, a 39-year-old Indian plumber, was arrested on Sunday after the allegedly umpteenth episode of violence against his wife.

The two got into an argument when she returned home from work.  Acting under the impression that she was seeing someone else, he became aggressive and as the situation escalated he allegedly hit the woman on the head, twisted her arm and beat her on the back, the court was told by prosecutors.

A man who shared the couple’s Msida residence, stepped in to help the woman get away from her husband’s violence.

She managed to escape, running out of the apartment barefoot, her mouth bloody.

That day she sought refuge at the home of a female friend.

Her husband later went to look for her there, explained prosecuting Inspector Sherona Buhagiar.

Police subsequently arrested him.

His alleged victim claimed that he often manhandled her.

On Tuesday, assisted by two interpreters and a legal aid lawyer, the Hindi-speaking man pleaded not guilty to causing his wife to fear violence as well as slightly injuring her.

Defence lawyer Victor Bugeja did not request bail at this stage but asked the court to issue a treatment order to address the accused’s 12-year long history of alcohol abuse.

The court, presided over by magistrate Leonard Caruana, upheld that request explaining to the accused that a probation officer would monitor him.

“This is a court order. If you don’t follow it, there will be legal consequences,” warned the magistrate as the man nodded in understanding.

A request for a ban on the accused’s name was objected to by the prosecution and turned down by the court.