A court in Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona) has sentenced a 45-year-old man to 14 months in prison for habitual abuse and coercion towards his wife, a resident of Corbera de Llobregat whom he kept locked up at home with the blinds down for up to four months.
According to the verdict, it is proven that the individual continuously exerted physical, verbal, and psychological violence against his wife during this time. They got married in July 2024 in Morocco and had been living together since June 30 of this year in Corbera de Llobregat. During these four months of cohabitation, "with the intention of harming the victim's physical integrity," he "physically and verbally assaulted her in the family home and prevented her from leaving the house," as stated in the verdict.
The ruling, the result of a speedy trial in which the accused agreed to the requested sentence, establishes that the man hit and insulted his wife on several occasions with a belt in their home in Corbera under the pretext that he did not like the food she had prepared.
Additionally, he prevented her from leaving the house and forced her to always keep the blinds down. He also physically assaulted her with his hand and from behind, and at one point, he prohibited her from seeing a doctor.
On Friday, November 14, the woman contacted the social services of Corbera de Llobregat through the official mailbox for advice, although the communication was interrupted after several messages. It was then that the social services officials contacted the Mossos d'Esquadra of Sant Vicenç dels Horts to report these incidents. The officers from the Victim Care Unit of the Sant Vicenç dels Horts police station and the Corbera de Llobregat Local Police then went to the family home, where they were able to speak with the woman.
On November 18, based on the information gathered by social services and the victim's statements, the officers arrested her husband for gender-based violence and illegal detention.
Following a speedy trial, the Women's Violence Section of the Court of First Instance No. 1 of Sant Feliu de Llobregat has sentenced a 45-year-old man to 14 months in prison for abuse and coercion. For the first offense, he is sentenced to 14 months and 2 days in prison, a 32-month ban on possessing weapons, and a 22-month prohibition on approaching or communicating with the victim within 1,000 meters.
For the coercion offense, the penalties include 44 days of community service, a 16-month ban on possessing weapons, and a two-month prohibition on approaching or communicating with the victim within 1,000 meters.
The judge orders the prison sentence to be suspended for a period of two years, on the condition that the convict does not commit any crimes, stays at least 1,000 meters away from the victim, undergoes a training program on equal treatment and non-discrimination, and reports any change of address.