Court hears how accused in trial by jury made wife prisoner in her own home

The trial by jury of former policeman Carmel Cutajar kicked off this morning, making history as the first trial to be presided over by a female judge, Madam Justice Edwina Grima. Mr Cutajar, 50 of Rabat, is pleading not guilty to the attempted murder of his estranged wife, seriously injuring her, carrying an unlicensed firearm and committing a crime he was duty bound to prevent on September 26, 2012. The accused had been married to Maria for 21 years, with whom he had two daughters. At the time of the incident, they were aged 14 and 20. According to the prosecution, their marriage was not a happy one due to the accused's possessive, authoritarian and violent character, making his wife practically a prisoner within her own home. In fact, two months prior to the incident, Ms Cutajar and their two children had left the family home and sought shelter at Dar Merhba Bik. The accused could not accept the fact that his wife and children had defied his authority and left the family home and he tried to persuade her to return. Since there were instances in the past when Ms Cutajar would relent before his honeyed words and return, only to suffer beatings and oppression by her husband, she...

from timesofmalta.com http://ift.tt/1QjiOnQ
via IFTTT