A Guimarães court has sentenced to three years and one month in prison a man who subjected his wife to physical, psychological and sexual abuse for 20 years in Oliveira Santa Maria, municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão.
According to the April 2 ruling, which Lusa accessed this Wednesday, the 69-year-old defendant was also found guilty of threatening to kill his son.
The court charged him with domestic violence and aggravated threats.
The resolution emphasizes that for more than 20 years of marriage to the accused, the woman became a victim of crimes against physical integrity, honor, personal freedom and sexual crimes.
“They are [ofensas] seriously attack the moral character of the victim, especially since they come from those who are supposed to love and protect them. They continue to be defined by the fear, humiliation and suffering that dominated their lives,” he adds.
The panel of judges emphasized the “high illegality” of the facts, finding that the defendant demonstrated a “controlling, sexist and authoritarian personality throughout his behavior.”
It is noted, however, “that, at least on a physical level, no serious consequences of the crimes committed by the defendant have been proven.”
The court found that immediately after the marriage, the defendant did not allow his wife to leave the house alone and live freely with family and friends.
For 20 years, the defendant abused his wife almost daily and forced her to have sexual relations with him at least once a week.
During the same period, there are records of death threats and physical attacks such as hair pulling, pushing, hitting, slapping and punching.
“The defendant knew that he had repeatedly physically and verbally abused his wife and the mother of his children, with whom he lived, and violated the duties of respect and solidarity that he knew were owed to him,” the ruling said.
He also alleges that the defendant subjected the woman to psychological suffering and subjected her to “humiliation and degrading treatment that undermined her honor, dignity and self-esteem.”
It is also about insulting the physical, moral integrity, honor and personal dignity of women, creating “feelings of insecurity, fear and anxiety” and causing damage to their body and health.
At trial, the defendant denied committing any of the acts alleged in the charge, stating that he never insulted, beat, threatened or coerced his wife into having sexual relations with him.
He also said his marriage “never had any problems other than those that are normal between members of a couple, and the problems at home were related to the behavior of his daughter, who beat and abused her mother.”
“He vehemently and petulantly denied that he had ever been a heavy drinker, declaring that he only drank one glass with a meal, like any man,” the ruling said.
A version that the court did not believe.
The defendant will also have to pay the victim compensation in the amount of 6 thousand euros for moral damage.
He is banned from contacting the victim in any way for four years.
The couple divorced in May 2023.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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