Woman rescued from wife-bashing husband

A 25-YEAR-OLD woman related yesterday how she was finally freed from her wife-bashing husband after three years.
“I really have to thank the Waigani police Family Sexual Violence Unit (FSVU) for freeing me from the assaults and giving me a new lease of life,” Anna Thompson told The National.
Anna said: “I was badly beaten up by her husband last October, sustaining a couple of broken bones and injuries that hospitalised me for about two months.
“I lost my job, my family rejected me and I didn’t know where to go for help. He was a bully and despite being an educated woman with a Degree in Economics, I thought I had no way of ever leaving the marriage.
“We have one child, a three year old boy, I was the one working, paying the rent, the babysitter and putting food on the table. Despite all these, all his relatives lived with us in the little one bedroom house I rented.”
Anna said that her husband would beat her up every payday when he would demand for money and got upset with the little she gave him after paying for rent, the babysitter and buying food for two weeks.
“The first time he beat me, I went to a police station but was told to return home to settle my marital or domestic problem.
“That day, he nearly beat me to death. I was bleeding and vomiting blood and fainted a couple of times from the pain for going to the police for help.
“For the next three years, I suffered in silence because I thought the police could not help me.”
Anna said a nurse advised her seek help from the Waigani FSVU last October but “I went there without much hope”.
“They were amazing, they were in the office working.
“It was a big surprise, they attended to my case and told me to return the next day to sign the documents.”
“They then got an Interim Protection Order for me in the next three days and served it on my husband. They also arranged a meeting between my family and his family members.
“We are divorced and I now have a permanent restraining order. He never bothered me since that day. I suppose he’s scared to go to prison,” she said.
Anna said: “I don’t have anything to give to the three officers who saved me. But I wish thank them and acknowledge their good work and commitment to their profession.
“By sharing my story, I hope to inspire others suffering from marital or domestic violence to seek help, like me.
“Stop suffering in silence because the police can help end your misery.”