He supreme court (TS) has convicted a man of habitual mistreatment that he had been acquitted of this illegal activity, although condemned by others, when determining that, to appreciate it, a mere succession of perfectly identifiable violent actions is not required, but that “creating a prolonged climate of intimidation and contempt is equivalent to psychological violence”.
The Criminal Chamber, in a presentation by magistrate Javier Hernández, ruled on the case of a man who, during the two years of relationship he had with a woman, although “especially during the last three months”, “created a climate submission and permanent control, maintaining a continuous aggressive attitude”, “with the intention of undermining the physical and mental integrity of your partner”.
According to the account of proven facts, “from the beginning of the relationship and moved by jealousy, the defendant told him: ‘I want the most important person in your life to be me, and then your children, I need a woman who prioritizes me before all ‘”. This caused the woman to “avoid going out with anyone else, preventing the normal development of her life.” He ended up “controlling all her movements” from her.
“He frequently yelled at her, threw objects at her” and insulted her to the point of making threats of all kinds, such as “I’m going to kill you or your children” and “I’m going to burn the floor,” details the Supreme Court. Specifically, he records an episode in which, at dawn, she told him: “I’ll kill myself but first I’ll kill you to make it worth it”. He then “began to push her against the walls and the floor, and beat her with his fists all over her body” until he threw her against the nightstand.
As a consequence of all this, the woman “developed an adjustment disorder, with psychological repercussions consisting of minimizing violent behaviors, blaming them and high emotional dependence”, as well as “false sense of control of the situation and decreased perception of the seriousness and existing danger”.