LATE one night a skeletal woman in dirty pyjamas, a torn jacket and sneakers jumped from the carport roof of her suburban Sydney home shattering her left leg from ankle to knee.
Terrified and in agony she dragged herself to the house next door where her neighbours took her to hospital and the police were called.
It was not the first time police were called to investigate allegations of domestic violence by the western Sydney husband, but it would be the last.
After persistent begging from family and friends, as well as frequent visits from concerned police, the woman walked away from 17 years of abuse, and what had become a suburban house of horrors where she had been beaten and forced to submit to degrading sexual acts.
“People see I got a big house, double storey house, my husband has a good job and I have a brand-new car ... but as soon as the door closes no one knows what is inside,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
Cynthia, not her real name, gave evidence against her husband, 51, at his trial where he faced 138 charges, including 22 counts of rape, in what has been one the most extensive prosecutions of domestic violence in NSW history.
Earlier this month, the man was found guilty of 21 counts of rape, one of attempted rape and one of grievous bodily harm.
The Crown is now seeking for the judge to find him guilty of a further 114 summary offences, including assaults, stalking and breaches of Apprehended Violence Orders.
On the night of January 31, 2015, medical staff were horrified at Cynthia’s condition when she arrived at hospital emaciated, unwashed and with a severely broken leg.
“The nurses asked if I was a homeless person,” Cynthia, who migrated to Australia 30 years ago, said.
Her 160cm frame weighed less than 50kg and a later medical examination would reveal she was suffering from the type of malnourishment usually seen in refugees or concentration camp survivors — not in suburban Sydney.
It was fear and anxiety which stopped her from eating as during the weeks leading up to her terrifying leap, her husband forced her to cut her hair, threatened to circumcise her or cut off her nose, and made her submit to his “punishments” — a series of degrading rapes.
The reign of terror was prompted by her husband’s false belief that she was having an affair.
“For days and days I was not eating, no shower, no sleep, night after night,” she said.
Finally one night fearing he would kill her, she climbed out of an upstairs window onto the balcony while being chased by her husband and jumped from the roof.
Her leap led to her husband, who also cannot be identified, being arrested and charged with intimidation and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.
Campbelltown-based Detective Senior Constable Fiona Duncan, who took on the case, said police had been receiving calls about domestic violence incidents at the couple’s home since they moved into the area in 2011.
“By December 2014 and January 2015 the incidents were becoming more serious and more consistent.”
A month after her jump, Sen Cons Duncan had a frank conversation with Cynthia.
“I think I said something to (Cynthia) that we can only help you if you are prepared to go the whole way and the only way to make you safe is if you tell us the whole story.”
So Cynthia did, all 17 years of it.
The woman said her husband controlled every aspect of her life.Over six weeks, Sen Cons Duncan would drive to Cynthia’s house and she would wriggle painfully into the passenger seat still wearing a full-leg cast.
They would then drive to the police station and over five hours, Cynthia would give her statement before being driven back home at 2pm to meet her two children after school.
Sen Cons Duncan said Cynthia looked completely different back when they began.
“Now she looks shiny. Back then she looked like a skeleton and her skin was sallow and grey like you see on the television of people in camps that sallow, hungry, stressed look.”
Sen Cons Duncan confesses she is “a feeder” and would bring a packed lunch of sandwiches and home-cooked biscuits each day to try to coax Cynthia to eat.
“She might eat half of one of those biscuits and a quarter of a sandwich over a six-hour period.”
Cynthia was suffering from refeeding syndrome, a condition found in severely malnourished people and which can be fatal.
She said that from the time she decided to make her police statement she was committed to having her husband prosecuted for the sake of their children.
“I can’t keep them safe if I am still with him. It was very hard because he was my husband for 17 to 18 years and I loved him,” she said.
Over a gruelling five-week period, Cynthia gave evidence at his trial, a process she found so distressing an ambulance had to be called three times because she had stress-related seizures.
She gave evidence about several bashings including one when she was knocked into a wall when she was three months pregnant and kicked in the back and the thigh. The next day she miscarried.
She told how her husband controlled her and she would need to seek his permission before speaking to friends or family or to go to the shops.
The most telling question during the trial was when she was asked why she did not leave him.
“I felt sad and scared but at the same time I loved him, I had children with him ... I wanted a family like everyone else, a loving caring family and a loving caring husband.”
Cynthia said there was also cultural pressure for her to keep quiet about domestic violence and stay in the relationship
Her advice now to other women is not to wait.
“Come out quick, don’t wait as I have waited for a person thinking that the person is going to get better ... go to someone that can support you, go to the police station if you can’t go into anyone’s house.
“And be good to your neighbours, if you hear something let someone know — don’t keep it to yourself. Sometimes it is too late I am one of the lucky ones to make it out.”
This story was written by Sarah Crawford and has been copied from here.
Terrified and in agony she dragged herself to the house next door where her neighbours took her to hospital and the police were called.
It was not the first time police were called to investigate allegations of domestic violence by the western Sydney husband, but it would be the last.
After persistent begging from family and friends, as well as frequent visits from concerned police, the woman walked away from 17 years of abuse, and what had become a suburban house of horrors where she had been beaten and forced to submit to degrading sexual acts.
“People see I got a big house, double storey house, my husband has a good job and I have a brand-new car ... but as soon as the door closes no one knows what is inside,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
Cynthia, not her real name, gave evidence against her husband, 51, at his trial where he faced 138 charges, including 22 counts of rape, in what has been one the most extensive prosecutions of domestic violence in NSW history.
Earlier this month, the man was found guilty of 21 counts of rape, one of attempted rape and one of grievous bodily harm.
The Crown is now seeking for the judge to find him guilty of a further 114 summary offences, including assaults, stalking and breaches of Apprehended Violence Orders.
On the night of January 31, 2015, medical staff were horrified at Cynthia’s condition when she arrived at hospital emaciated, unwashed and with a severely broken leg.
“The nurses asked if I was a homeless person,” Cynthia, who migrated to Australia 30 years ago, said.
Her 160cm frame weighed less than 50kg and a later medical examination would reveal she was suffering from the type of malnourishment usually seen in refugees or concentration camp survivors — not in suburban Sydney.
It was fear and anxiety which stopped her from eating as during the weeks leading up to her terrifying leap, her husband forced her to cut her hair, threatened to circumcise her or cut off her nose, and made her submit to his “punishments” — a series of degrading rapes.
The reign of terror was prompted by her husband’s false belief that she was having an affair.
“For days and days I was not eating, no shower, no sleep, night after night,” she said.
Finally one night fearing he would kill her, she climbed out of an upstairs window onto the balcony while being chased by her husband and jumped from the roof.
Her leap led to her husband, who also cannot be identified, being arrested and charged with intimidation and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.
Campbelltown-based Detective Senior Constable Fiona Duncan, who took on the case, said police had been receiving calls about domestic violence incidents at the couple’s home since they moved into the area in 2011.
“By December 2014 and January 2015 the incidents were becoming more serious and more consistent.”
A month after her jump, Sen Cons Duncan had a frank conversation with Cynthia.
“I think I said something to (Cynthia) that we can only help you if you are prepared to go the whole way and the only way to make you safe is if you tell us the whole story.”
So Cynthia did, all 17 years of it.
The woman said her husband controlled every aspect of her life.Over six weeks, Sen Cons Duncan would drive to Cynthia’s house and she would wriggle painfully into the passenger seat still wearing a full-leg cast.
They would then drive to the police station and over five hours, Cynthia would give her statement before being driven back home at 2pm to meet her two children after school.
Sen Cons Duncan said Cynthia looked completely different back when they began.
“Now she looks shiny. Back then she looked like a skeleton and her skin was sallow and grey like you see on the television of people in camps that sallow, hungry, stressed look.”
Sen Cons Duncan confesses she is “a feeder” and would bring a packed lunch of sandwiches and home-cooked biscuits each day to try to coax Cynthia to eat.
“She might eat half of one of those biscuits and a quarter of a sandwich over a six-hour period.”
Cynthia was suffering from refeeding syndrome, a condition found in severely malnourished people and which can be fatal.
She said that from the time she decided to make her police statement she was committed to having her husband prosecuted for the sake of their children.
“I can’t keep them safe if I am still with him. It was very hard because he was my husband for 17 to 18 years and I loved him,” she said.
Over a gruelling five-week period, Cynthia gave evidence at his trial, a process she found so distressing an ambulance had to be called three times because she had stress-related seizures.
She gave evidence about several bashings including one when she was knocked into a wall when she was three months pregnant and kicked in the back and the thigh. The next day she miscarried.
She told how her husband controlled her and she would need to seek his permission before speaking to friends or family or to go to the shops.
The most telling question during the trial was when she was asked why she did not leave him.
“I felt sad and scared but at the same time I loved him, I had children with him ... I wanted a family like everyone else, a loving caring family and a loving caring husband.”
Cynthia said there was also cultural pressure for her to keep quiet about domestic violence and stay in the relationship
Her advice now to other women is not to wait.
“Come out quick, don’t wait as I have waited for a person thinking that the person is going to get better ... go to someone that can support you, go to the police station if you can’t go into anyone’s house.
“And be good to your neighbours, if you hear something let someone know — don’t keep it to yourself. Sometimes it is too late I am one of the lucky ones to make it out.”
This story was written by Sarah Crawford and has been copied from here.
