Abused wife saved by hiding SOS note in son’s homework

A woman in the Costa del Sol town of Benalmádena was living in a constant state of physical and psychological abuse by her husband, unable to leave the house by herself, nor to use a cell phone or the internet without permission from him, local government sources told The Local on Wednesday.

The mother of two decided to make a cry for help, writing a note describing her situation and then hiding it within the schoolwork of her son.

“It seems that she was under extreme surveillance and was not allowed to communicate with anyone, so she decided to write the note,” a regional government spokeswoman in Málaga told The Local.

The source added the woman and her husband were both dual UK-Uruguay citizens who had lived in Britain before Spain.

“The man and woman had dual British and Uruguayan citizenship, but we cannot confirm about the children,” the source said.

When the son’s teacher was checking over his homework, she discovered the note and called the police.

The authorities then devised a plan for the school to invite the mother to a teacher’s meeting to discuss her son.

The husband accompanied her there, but waited outside. There the woman was able to tell a special police unit that deals with domestic violence about the mistreatment and show them physical signs of the abuse.

Officers then arrested the man for domestic violence. He has been released on bail pending trial, but is under electronic monitoring and a police protective order has been issued for the wife.