SINGAPORE - Looking at Ms Rachel Chung, one would never think that she was a victim of domestic violence.

But the vivacious and outspoken 37-year-old communications manager had suffered for 8 years at the hands of her ex-husband.

She was verbally and physically abused by her ex-husband for gaining weight after childbirth.

"I think from the beginning there were no warning sign," said Ms Chung.

"He treated me like a queen and put me on a pedestal, he really treated me very well."

The couple got married in 1998, but the fairy tale soon ended.

It happened after the birth of her first child, "because I put on alot of weight and he wasn't happy about that.

"And I think it didn't help that he also lost his job during that period of time.

"He'd say things like 'When I knew you, you were a size 8, then now you are 16. I didn't sign up for twice the woman that you are.'

"Or he'd say things like 'Oh, it's because of you that I lost my job, maybe you're not good for me, in terms of fengshui or bazi,'" said Ms Chung, grimacing at the memory.

"What am I supposed to do about that? There's nothing I can do. So you feel very helpless," she added.

She said she tried reasoning with him, but it wasn't getting through, to the point that she just gave up.

Ignoring her ex-husband's jibes just seemed to make him bolder.

The abuse got worse and he would shove, punch and kick her whenever they got into arguments.

But she endured the pain because she did not want to "rock the boat" and break up her family.

She suffered two slip discs and injured her head, resulting in episodes of migraine that plague her even till today.

However, she said the psychological damage he inflicted was more hurtful than the physical abuse.

The last straw came in 2006 when Ms Chung's then 8-year-old daughter witnessed her being hit.

Read the full story here.