KEY POINTS
- The man has been charged with torture, deprivation of liberty, assault occasioning bodily harm and making threats
- He appeared in court Wednesday and was denied bail
- According to his lawyer, the wife threw tea at the man and he only reacted by "mimicking" her action
A man from Australia has been accused of torturing his wife by pouring scalding tea on her and beating her with an electric cord.
The suspect, who works as a taxi driver in Brisbane, appeared in Brisbane Court on Wednesday on charges of torture, deprivation of liberty, assault occasioning bodily harm and making threats. The court denied him bail.
The court heard that the suspect, whose identity has not been revealed, had tortured his wife by pouring hot tea from a vacuum flask onto her legs. He allegedly hit her with a metal bowl on her head during an argument at their home on Tuesday, reported local news outlet The Morning Bulletin.
According to the court documents, the victim was held at the house against her will. The man has also been accused of torturing the wife with an electric cord in an incident that happened in August.
Rajiv Gill, the man's lawyer, told the court that the couple, who has a 2-month-old baby together, had started arguing when the wife made derogatory comments about his "well respected" family in Afghanistan. The wife allegedly threw tea at the man, so he reacted by "mimicking" her action.
"He had no idea that the thermos was unlocked," Gill said.
The man searched for home remedies for burns while the woman ran to the shower after the incident, the lawyer also told the court.
"Obviously, perhaps in hindsight, he should have called the ambulance," Gill said as per The Courier-Mail.
The woman was later taken to the hospital for treatment and did not sustain any serious injuries.
The man, who has no criminal history, refused to accept the claim that he had assaulted the victim with an electric cord.
Michael Quinn, the magistrate, observed that charges against the accused, including a threat to kill the woman, were very serious. The court refused him bail and ordered him to reappear in court on Feb. 15.
The man's lawyer told the court that he was "mimicking" the act of throwing tea and did not realize that the thermos was unlocked. Photo: pixabay
According to a study on domestic violence in Australia, women are over eight times more likely to be victims of domestic abuse than men. The report shows that 1.3% of women and only 0.14% of men admitted to emergency departments that they were there due to a partner-inflicted injury.
