A recluse’s life, that of a woman. In fact, her husband monitored her outings, messages, calls, and sometimes went to her workplace to see how he was behaving. Only there did he allow her to go to work. No contact with other people, not even a greeting or a quick exchange of words with neighbors. A story of oppression and segregation that ended in court with the sentencing of PB, thirty-two years old, to four years in prison for mistreatment in the family, aggravated by the presence of his minor son who witnessed the arguments, and injuries. The victim was a thirty-year-old of Nigerian origin living in Sant’Agabio in Novara, now entrusted to a protected community. She chose to forget, and didn’t even join as a civil party to ask for damages. About a year ago, in January 2023, she went to the police. She had run away from home and spent the night at the station: “I’m afraid of being killed.” All this because she is tired of deprivation, threats and then kicks, punches, slaps, hair being torn out: «You’re ugly, no one wants you. No one else will be able to get close to you”, one of her most recurring phrases. And again: “I saved you from poverty, and I tolerate you.” A story punctuated by various interventions by the police, that of the couple. She had been suffering for several months. She had already walked away other times before. On one occasion she had taken refuge with a colleague, and her husband had told her: “If you don’t come back, I’ll send you back to Africa.” And another time a knife appeared.
