It took her 55 years to speak. She hid and endured the almost weekly beatings from her partner for decades. A resident of Morcenx (Landes), now retired, elderly, was recognized as a victim of domestic violence this Thursday, June 27 before the Mont-de-Marsan criminal court. Her husband, 78, was on trial for hitting her twice in March. Today very weak, his health having deteriorated, he was not present at the hearing. He was sentenced to eight months in prison. He is also banned from visiting his home for the next three years.
This little woman decided to go to a police station to file a complaint, for the very first time, last April. A few days earlier, she had been beaten again by her husband. Violent blows. Photos of his swollen face captured all sides. Two black eyes. The last time he laid a hand on her.
The children’s testimony
One time too many (this time she couldn’t hide it with makeup). Because that wasn’t the only one. Far from there. “The submerged part of the iceberg” image of this lady’s lawyer, puny in appearance in court, not very tall, short hair.
What the judge, lawyers, and prosecutor saw in these photos was what she had been experiencing on a weekly basis for years, decades. Her children were not fooled, they had four. “It was slaps, kicks, punches, as soon as he had drunk. And he often drankat the bar next to the town hall, with his friends” one of them told the police. Memories from the age of six. From the 70s. Another era. Where speech was not as free as now.
“It’s never too late to speak”
Because it took courage for this woman to attend the hearing. She is there surrounded by her daughters, one on each side. Both of them with tight features, staring straight ahead. Without blinking. She, a handkerchief in her hands, will not ask for a divorce, says her lawyer: “It would make no sense to her.” In her plea, she carries a message: “It’s never too late to speak.”
At the end of the hearing, her client leaves in tears, as if consumed by guilt for having denounced her spouse. She even asked to be able to visit him, from time to time, accompanied. After a stint in a psychiatric hospital, her husband has been living for several weeks in a nursing home in Morcenx, in a specialized and secure unit.
