Mr M married his wife a British Citizen in The Middle East. Mr M arrived in the United Kingdom shortly after to join his wife and her extended family.
The marriage was problematic from the start. Mr M described being physically, emotionally, mentally and verbally abused. He confirmed that;
- His passport was taken from him.
- Family members would take him to work and collect him afterwards.
- His wife, mother in law and father in law would verbally and physically abuse him. They would degrade him by saying he was not worthy of coming to the UK and was only brought to the UK to work for the family.
- On a regular basis his in laws would pull his ears and nose very hard to the point that he would be in severe pain.
- He made an appointment to visit the GP following this incident because he was in pain but the GP persuaded him not to report the abuse to police because this was a family matter and should be dealt with inside the family.
- He would work long hours from 7am until 7pm and his wife controlled his bank account preventing him access to his salary.
- His wife wife used to throw objects at him and would verbally abuse him.
- The family would threaten to deport him back to the Middle East if he did not do as he was ordered to do.
- They would make him wash all the dishes and clean the entire house on a regular basis.
- At weekends, he would be put to work in the back garden and/or made to paint the house.
- His wife and in laws would not let him eat food with them at the same table.
- He would be given £5 to last for 2 months as spending money
- He was not allowed to phone or contact his family.
- His wife wife was expecting a baby and told Mr M that once the baby was born she had no use for him as she would receive all the Child Benefits in her own name
- His wife and In-laws once booked a flight to the Middle East in his name and tried to force him to return to the Middle East but they changed their minds when he agreed to behave.
Mr M left the marital home following increasing incidents of domestic abuse.
On arrival at Palm Cove Society he showed visible signs of distress.
Staff at Palm Cove Society are working closely with him to help him to come to terms with his situation and encourage him to make plans for the future.
