HE came home drunk and threatened his Vietnamese fiancee with a knife when she refused to sleep with him.

He did it not just once, but on four occasions.

We are not naming the couple as the Singaporean man had allegedly forced himself on the Vietnamese woman.

His true colours made the 21-year-old woman call off the wedding, which was fixed for solemnisation on Thursday.

On Monday, she fled to First Overseas International Matchmaker, the agency that introduced her to the man, and it arranged for her to return to Ho Chi Minh City the same day.

Mr Francis Toh, the agency owner, told The New Paper on Sunday that his client, 50, a businessman, treated the woman well during their brief courtship after they were introduced last month.

He said: 'We signed the contract and he paid my fee of $6,800. It was agreed that he could take her home after he had obtained a marriage solemnisation date.'

The woman moved into his Serangoon flat late last month, in preparation for her wedding.

True colours

But within two weeks, the man showed his true colours, claimed Mr Toh.

He allegedly came home drunk and demanded to sleep with his fiancee, Lianhe Wanbao reported. When she refused, the man, who was reeking of alcohol, allegedly turned nasty.

She claimed that he threatened her with a knife and said: 'If you don't give in, I'll kill you before killing myself. We'll die together.'

Stuck in a foreign country and facing a knife, she gave in.

It did not help that the man's two older sisters gave her a tough time too.

UNHAPPY ENDING: Matchmaking agency owner Francis Toh (left, with the alleged victim) said the man was introduced by a friend. (Photo: Wanbao)

Mr Toh said: 'My client's sisters are supposedly suffering from depression so when they couldn't control their emotions, they shouted at her for no reason.'

The woman decided to call off the marriage and return to Vietnam after her experience.

After contacting Mr Toh secretly, she sneaked out of the flat and fled to the agency in Katong Shopping Centre.

She told Lianhe Wanbao before she left Singapore: 'My ex-fiance apologised each time he sobered up but he reverted to his devilish side when he became drunk again.

'I came here seeking a better life and I didn't want to live with such a man.'

She said there was no way she could find another Singaporean man as she had lost her virginity.

She said: 'I just hope to get my passport back and return to Vietnam. I plan to learn some skills as I'll have to be independent in future.'

Besides her parents, she has a 25-year-old brother living in Vietnam.

Angered that the marriage was cancelled without any refund of his agency fee, the man refused to hand over her passport.

Mr Toh said: 'I rejected his request for a refund because it was unreasonable. He hid his drinking habit from me when he became my customer. It was also wrong of him to treat his ex-fiancee that way.

'Besides, when both sides signed the contract, it was made clear to them that if the marriage was cancelled because of the man, he would bear the consequences.'

As the man had refused to return the passport, Mr Toh went to the police and got the Vietnamese embassy here to make travel arrangements for her.

He said he trusted the man as he was recommended by a friend.

He said: 'If he came on his own, I'd have been more watchful. But since he was introduced by someone I knew, I thought he was of good character.'

The New Paper on Sunday's attempts to contact the man were unsuccessful.

Other matches gone wrong

14 MAY 2006

Mr Ang Hock Chye, 37, a clerk, returns to his Mei Ling Street home to find his Vietnamese wife had left. She took her passport, clothes and jewellery.

Her friend and compatriot also left her Singaporean husband on the same day.

6 APR 2005

A report in The New Paper quotes Mr Mark Lin, owner of Vietnam Brides International, as saying that for every hundred marriages involving Vietnamese women and local men, at least three brides initiate break-ups.

He cited the language barrier and cultural differences as the main reasons.

This article was first published in The New Paper.