the essential
Against a backdrop of financial disputes and alcohol, Eric exploded to the point that he almost strangled his former partner.
Hearings where victims of domestic violence are no longer seeking damages are becoming rarer. “It’s the first time he’s raised his hand on me,” explains Charlotte*, 41 years old. “But often, there are precedents where the victims believe that it was okay. He shouts at me, threatens me, gives me a single slap. And then comes alcohol, anger, a crisis that we cannot control and everything changes,” the president of the court warns during this criminal hearing, this Thursday, September 9.
Also read:
Violence against women: figures on the rise in the Lot
Since there was violence, there was some. Even though Charlotte only had three days of ITT. On that night of August 21 to 22 in Sauzet, Charlotte and Eric, 43, argued once again. They have been separated for a year but continue to live together on a daily basis. For the well-being of their 3-year-old child: “I didn’t have a dad. I don’t want that for him,” explains Eric, who now lives on the family estate in a converted truck. A domain that he nevertheless wishes to leave. The house belongs to both of them, he would like her to buy his shares from him: “When we talk about money, things always get out of control,” notes the forty-year-old.
“I did that to keep her quiet.”
And it always goes wrong with alcohol, a lot of alcohol. That summer evening, both of them drank. Shortly before 10 p.m., physical violence accompanied for the first time the daily insults they threw at each other. Using a sheet, he tries to strangle him, shouting: “I’m going to kill you when the little one grows up.” » On the stand, the defendant puts things into perspective: “I did that to make her shut up, to stop screaming. » Above all, he contests any endangerment of his ex: “She is the mother of my child, I would never kill her. We stopped and continued watching TV and that’s it! It’s the only time we bickered,” he assures, using, surprisingly, this childish term to talk about an altercation.
However, that night, Charlotte feared for her life. To the point that she wrote a text message to a friend around 10 p.m. to tell her what happened: “It was to protect me in case something happened,” remembers this mother who struggles to condemn her ex. “I knew it was the alcohol, that it wasn’t him. He's a good father. » In any case, that's how the gendarmes learned what was happening and went to the scene around 1 a.m.
“Do not add misery to misery”
“That evening, we set the cursor a little higher,” notes the prosecution which, like the president of the court, urges Charlotte not to minimize the facts. “A woman dies every three days at the hands of her partner,” he adds.
Also read:
Tried for domestic violence in November, the Lot prosecutor could be transferred
“If we ask it to be responsible, society must be responsible by not adding misery to misery, violence to violence. Above all, it is about preventing the reiteration of the facts. We are talking about a one-off event over 16 years of life together. We are not here to destroy a family, which exists and will always exist,” argued his defense.
Especially since neither of them seems to harbor resentment towards the other: “If she needs help, I will always be there,” swears Eric, who was sentenced to six months in prison, to an internship on domestic violence and a ban on appearing at the family home. He is also partially deprived of his parental authority. He will have to show his credentials so that this event does not break up his family.
