Abused by my “prince”

Ours was a love marriage, he was like a prince right off from my dreams and I even went against my parents for him but little did I know that after four years of marriage pandemonium would wreck my life.

I can still remember the very first time when my husband raised his hands on me. I was with my daughter waiting for him to return from work. As soon as he got home, I opened his bag while he went to freshen himself. To my surprise, there was a box of cigarettes in his bag. Despite the fact that I prohibited him from smoking, he had a box of cigarettes with him. Upon questioning, he told me that it belonged to his friend. When I was persistent with the questions, he strangled me and kicked me in my lower belly in his fury. If it were not for our four year old daughter, I would not have been spared. His daughter is the apple of his eyes.

I then decided to drag him to court and I got a protection order. He promised to never do this again. However, I was unfortunate because after only 1 week the nightmare started all over again. This time it happened after I questioned him about coming home late.

Rubbing salt to my wounds was the fact that my mother-in-law, brother-in-law and his wife did nothing to stop my husband. Moreover my mother-in-law commanded my husband to discipline me and make me obey to his orders. She did this because she said I had refused to give birth to another child. My reason for not having another child was that we could barely make ends meet from the little money my husband earned coupled with his gambling habits.

Again, I set up for a trial and I was bestowed with a protection order. This was certainly a life-line to me. Till now, he never raised his hands on me and we are living happily in our new house and I keep my fingers crossed that our lives goes on smoothly.

*Not her real name.
This story is a personal account and has also been used in War@HomeGender Based Violence Indicators Study Mauritius Country Report by Gender Links.