Battered woman wants divorce
After enduring approximately seven years of physical and verbal abuse from her husband, Kim* is now convinced he will kill her.
Although she has left the matrimonial home, Kim is trying to get a divorce.
“I am unable to afford a divorce lawyer and I have tried every avenue possible to get a divorce, but I am being given the runaround by every agency possible. I think the system is failing me, but I am determined to get a divorce because I don’t want that man to kill my daughter or I,” she said.
According to Kim, her husband was the perfect gentleman when they met, but he changed dramatically shortly after she had their daughter.
She said that she agreed to marry him because of fear, but four months into the marriage she had to run for her life.
“I have been living with this person for approximately 10 years and my life changed drastically. My freedom was taken away from me because I could not be seen with any of my friends, his friends or talking on the phone,” the woman said.
Kim said her husband threatened to kill her and burn down the home.
She said she was so fearful of him that she would get diarrhoea when it was time for him to come home.
SICK FOR A WEEK
She said she started to attend church and decided to pray for her family but even that angered her husband.
“One Sunday after church, I was cooking and he came home and started to cuss me out saying that I purchased the wrong meat and I made the mistake and said: ‘The blood of Jesus against you’. The next thing I know he sprayed me with an entire bottle of insect spray. I was sick for weeks,” she said.
Kim said she has tried fighting back over the years, but she was no match for him because he was physically bigger.
She said that their daughter has been affected the most by the violent encounters and it is evident in her behaviour and attitude towards her friends.
“Our daughter got suspended for fighting and this is because of what she sees in our home. He would beat her for the simplest things,” she said. “When I moved out of the home, he pretended to be a Christian and I allowed him to visit our daughter. During one of his visits, the child told him that I had invited someone for dinner and he hit me at the back of my head in her presence. I fell to the floor and he hit me in the nose and kicked me in my side, then lifted me and threw me on the column.”
Kim said that she reported the matter to the police and even took out a restraining order against him but that did not stop or slow down the abuse.
She told THE STAR that she has decided to come forward in the hope that she would be able to get assistance with a speedy divorce.