A man on trial for stabbing his wife to death has claimed in court that she in fact stabbed him, plied him with whisky, and committed suicide by overdosing on pills while he was unconscious.

The alleged version of events was proffered in court by Eliran Malul, who stands accused of the death of his wife, 32-year-old social worker Michal Sela, in Jerusalem in October 2019.

Local media said this was the first time Malul, who was also a social worker, had recounted his version of events, also telling the court that his late wife would regularly hit him.

Investigators believe Malul stabbed the victim repeatedly outside their home in the Israeli capital after she returned home from a female-empowerment workshop.

The couple’s infant daughter was inside the property when the brutal attack took place outside.

Malul is believed to have waited for around 17 hours before he finally went to a neighbour’s house to ask for help.

The neighbours then called the cops after he turned up at their front door bloodied and with stab wounds to the neck and stomach.

Six women who previously dated the accused have already spoken in court, alleging they were all abused physically and psychologically by him.

The case has had such an impact in the Middle Eastern country that the nation’s Guardianship Law was changed earlier this year.

From now on, people who murder or attempt to murder their partners will automatically forgo custody of their children.

Malul met Sela while they were working together helping at-risk teenagers.

Investigators believe the motive for the crime was Malul’s finding of Sela’s diary in which she had written about the souring of the pair’s relationship.

It is unclear why the defendant claimed his wife died of an overdose when she was reportedly stabbed to death.

The case continues.

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