Spouse attacked over objection to marriage for girl
A HUSBAND attacked his wife after she refused to discuss sending their 14-year-old daughter away for an arranged marriage.
The Derbyshire man threatened his partner with a kitchen knife and had to be disarmed by his children after flying into a rage when she dismissed allowing their daughter to marry his 25-year-old cousin in Bangladesh.
The man, in his 50s, brandished a rolling pin and vacuum cleaner cord extension during the incident on October 19, 2019. Later that evening he kicked her, forced her head onto a coffee table and punched her several times, leading to their daughter to call police.
The man cannot be named as there is a court order protecting the identity of his children. At a hearing on Monday, Derby Crown Court was told the husband had subjected his wife to numerous physical and verbal assaults since they married in 2004.
Daren Samat, prosecuting, said a daughter rang police on October 20, 2019, after her mother was assaulted in the home. “She was sitting on a chair from which he demanded she move,” he said.
“Because she moved too slowly, he kicked her in the thigh. He grabbed her hair and planted her head into the coffee table, then punched her head several times. These actions alerted the children.”
His wife contacted an elder from the Bangladeshi community who came to see what had happened.
“He found she was upset – she explained what had happened to her,” Mr Samat said. “The defendant was present, when asked what had happened he agreed he had been aggressive towards her.
“She said she didn’t want him in the house any more. Following this the police were called. It was discovered earlier in the day he had also assaulted her in front of his children. She had been in the kitchen preparing food and he had lost his temper and tried to assault her with a knife. During the assault the children had put themselves at between them to protect their mother.
“She said he had been disarmed by the children. It seems the root of the argument had to do with organising a wedding between his daughter aged 14 and his cousin, who is 25. He lives in Bangladesh. The father had raised the possibility of this wedding, she had refused when asked to discuss that match.
“Her concern was she was too young and she should have the freedom of choice and she not be forced to marry. Her daughter indicated she did not want to marry her cousin who she didn’t know and was 11 years older.”
Mr Samat said the defendant had physically and verbally assaulted his wife since 2011 and this was corroborated by the community elder, who said the victim had shown him bruising where he had hit her in the past.
Jessica Strange, mitigating, said the husband had engaged in “victim blaming” when he was first arrested, but has since developed a greater understanding that what he was doing was wrong. “He expresses regret,” she said.
The defendant was given a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years after pleading guilty to two counts of controlling or coercive behaviour.
He pleaded not guilty to violence or coercion to cause another to enter into marriage, a charge which was ordered to lie on the file. He was also given a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement, an eight-year restraining order prohibiting from contacting his wife or children, a six-month 7pm to 7am curfew and ordered to be subject to location monitoring for a period of two years.