Man granted bail following arraignment for marital rape

A policewoman’s husband was granted bail today after being arraigned over domestic abuse and marital rape charges, also being ordered to steer clear from his former wife.

The man, 32, of Hamrun, was brought to court under arrest to face charges of rape and attempted violent indecent assault. Other charges included holding his partner against her will and inflicting slight injuries upon her whilst forcing her to have sexual relations with him.

As a result of her husband’s actions, the woman had grown to fear for her safety, and after months of silent suffering, move out of the matrimonial home and filed a report with the police.

In court, the prosecution explained how the victim had been considering to leave her husband, but when it came to report the abuse, she had hesitated, owing to her police work. Although colleagues had long been urging her to report the alleged violence, the woman felt uncomfortable filing a report, the prosecution said.

Following the most recent episode of violence, the victim had confided with one of her superiors who advised her to file a report with the Vice Squad, leading the woman to make the move.

The prosecution informed the court that following this report, they had learnt that the relationship between the couple had been a turbulent one for a while. Investigations led to the issue of an arrest warrant and the ultimate arraignment.

The man denied the charges.

The defence made a request for bail, which was greeted with strong objections from the prosecution, which pointing out that the case was not just of domestic violence, but also of rape. The victim was allegedly terrified of her partner, who had even smashed her mobile phones and her car windscreen, the court was told.

In the past, the man had also run into trouble over violent incidents with his former partners. In this case, prosecution alleged that it had seen photos of the victim’s bruised face. The man had allegedly raped the woman twice, once forcing her at knifepoint and on another occasion threatening to beat her if she resisted his demands.

The man's defence counsel argued, however, remarked that the situation was “tragi-comical”, since only a few days ago the victim had been posting pictures of herself with her husband on Facebook, which appeared to indicate that all was well between the two.

Whenever the victim happened to be a police officer, the prosecution appeared to show greater zeal, the defence lawyer claimed.

The prosecuting officer retorted that he treated all cases “with zeal”, further pointing out that such cases of domestic violence needed to be checked.

“This is how it all starts. First there’s violence, then rape and finally homicide,” the inspector said. The led to the defence to declare that such comments were intended to influence the court.

Turning to the victim’s injuries, the lawyer pointed out that these too were to be considered in context. During one of the couple's arguments, the woman had allegedly lunged an ashtray at her husband who, instead of filing a police report, had lashed out at the her in retaliation. This was how the woman ended up with a black eye, the lawyer explained.

The court, presided over by magistrate Gabriella Vella, upheld the request for bail against a deposit of €1,000 and a personal guarantee of €5,000. It also imposed several other conditions, including signing a bail book on a daily basis and observing a curfew between 8.30pm and 7.30am. The court further issued a protection order in favour of the victim and strongly warned the man not to lay foot inside the matrimonial home.

Although the man was to take up residence with his parents, he would have to be accompanied by the police if he needed to retrieve his belongings from the couple’s home.

The court further recommended that the victim should also refrain from returning to the matrimonial home, which appeared to have been a point of contention since the woman ended her relationship with the accused.

“Don't make matters worse!” the court warned.

Inspector Joseph Busuttil prosecuted.

Lawyer Edward Gatt was defence counsel.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi appeared parte civile.