Put to the sword

Wives have long devised ways to make their husbands do their bidding. But a technique recently used by a 25-year-old woman in Shanghai proved counter-productive: on June 19th Tang Xiaowan was charged with killing her husband after he refused to cook her dinner. According to police, Mrs Tang regularly forced her spouse of three years, Li Weidong, to do household chores at sword-point. On the day of Mr Li's death, Mrs Tang allegedly asked him to cook her dinner, and when he refused, claiming he would be late for work, she threatened him with the sword. Mrs Tang then supposedly slipped and stabbed her husband, puncturing his liver. Mr Li died later in hospital from blood loss.

A prosecutor with the Minhang District Prosecutors' Office reportedly said, “It is really rare that a family tragedy is caused by a high-maintenance wife”.