‘Heinous’ abusive husband faces court over servitude, assault charges after imprisoning wife in Victorian home

A violent husband imprisoned his wife in their home and subjected her to years of “heinous” abuse including daily beatings for not performing domestic duties to his standards.

The man was aged in his early 20s when he began a three-year campaign of physical, emotional, verbal and sexual abuse against his partner, whom he had met on a dating app in 2020.

The husband, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to an aggravated charge of causing a person to enter into or remain in servitude, along with two assault charges.

He is the first person to face sentencing for aggravated servitude in Victoria.

He beat his wife with household objects such as metal poles from a high chair, belts, electrical cords and mobile phones, and the physical abuse continued when she became pregnant with their daughter, prosecutors told the court.

The ordeal was only brought to an end in August 2023, when the woman’s mother went to police.

After the man was arrested, he confirmed to police his wife had not been out of the house without him for 12 months, the Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.

The man’s former wife told the court the physical and mental trauma caused by the abuse made her believe she did not deserve happiness.

“I feel I’m worthless and I deserve to be treated poorly as my ex-partner did. I feel bad whenever I’m happy,” the woman said.

“I don’t feel much safer even though I know he is in custody.”

He began isolating her from family and friends from the beginning of their relationship, and while she was a student he would go to classes and watch her, eventually forcing her to stop attending, prosecutor Elizabeth Ruddle said.

He stopped her from using a mobile phone and did not allow her to leave home without him, in the six months before his arrest she only left their Melbourne apartment three times, she said.

He would attend social events, including playing futsal, and force his wife to video herself from their apartment so that he could ensure she did not leave.

The man also placed a rubber band on the outside of the door handle, as a marker to see if she tried to get out of their bedroom.

If she did not wash dishes or clothing to his liking, he would hit, slap or beat his wife using household objects.

He further controlled all of her finances and she had transferred him more than $50,000, leaving her with nothing in her bank account.

“The offender knowingly committed heinous acts of family violence on a daily basis through controlling behaviours and extreme degradation, breaching the liberty and human rights of both victims (the mother and baby) for the majority of their relationship,” Ms Ruddle told the court.

The woman “constantly feared for her own welfare and that of her daughter” and was covered in injuries when police intervened and took her to hospital, she said.

“The state of (the woman) was very confronting for all first emergency responders,” Ms Ruddle said.

The man, who is facing up to 20 years behind bars, told police “I give her consequences” for “lying” and claimed he had assaulted her amidst a toxic relationship when he was arrested, Ms Ruddle said.

His barrister Theo Kassimatis KC said, while the offending was serious, he urged the judge not to find it was the “worst case example” of aggravated servitude because it was the first sentence for the offence.

He also asked Justice Jane Dixon to take into account the man’s early guilty plea, his young age and vulnerability in prison.

The hearing was adjourned to Wednesday afternoon.

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