SHARE
COPY LINK

GENDER VIOLENCE

Man jailed in Spain for hitting wife live on TikTok

A Spanish man who slapped his wife during a TikTok livestream was sentenced on Monday to a year in jail although the victim declined to file a police complaint.

Man jailed in Spain for hitting wife live on TikTok
The woman had declined to press charges against her husband and refused to take the stand against him during the trial.(Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)

A court in the northern city of Soria found the man guilty of violence against women, banned him from coming within 300 metres (1,000 feet) of his wife or communicating with her for three years, and of acquiring a weapon during that time.

The sentence stems from an incident during a TikTok “battle” — a real-time competition between streamers where the winner is decided by viewers — held between the woman and three men during the early hours of January 28th.

In images that went viral in Spain, the man is seen slapping his wife in the face so hard that her head turns and she bursts out crying.

“The defendant assaulted his wife publicly and openly, in front of thousands of people, with the aim of undermining her physical integrity and humiliating her in public,” the court ruled.

“There is no need for a complaint from the victim in gender violence crimes. These should be punished once it becomes clear they have been committed,” the court added.

“Broadcasting the slap live is sufficient for the authorities to step in and protect the victim, regardless of whether she recognises herself as such.”

The woman had declined to press charges against her husband and refused to take the stand against him during the trial.

But the court said police had been called to the couple’s home in the past because of “disputes between the accused and his wife” which proved there was “continued mistreatment”.

Successive Spanish governments on both the right and left have made the fight against domestic violence a priority.

Parliament in 2004 overwhelmingly approved Europe’s first law to specifically crack down on gender-based violence.

It established special courts and offered free legal aid for victims, and set up a hotline that would not appear on users’ phone bills.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CRIME

Spanish police smash international drug-smuggling ring

Spanish police have smashed an international network led by Turkish nationals suspected of smuggling "large amounts" of marijuana and heroin from Spain to other European nations, police said on Tuesday.

Spanish police smash international drug-smuggling ring

Raids in 28 locations in the southern cities of Granada, Málaga and Seville earlier this month netted caches of money and weapons, as well as 10 luxury vehicles and over two tonnes of marijuana, Spain’s Guardia Civil police force said.

Officers arrested 36 suspects from 10 nations as part of the operation, including the suspected leader of the network, a man of Turkish origin who lived in Spain and was the target of an international arrest warrant issued by Turkey, they added.

The group “was focused on exporting large amounts of marijuana and heroin from our country to Germany and other nations in Eastern Europe”, police said.

The arrested suspects also included nationals from Argentina, Austria, Germany, Montenegro, Romania, Spain, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela.

European Union police force Europol, which coordinated the investigation, said over 400 officers from French, Spanish and Turkish law enforcement agencies took part in the operation.

Spain is one of the main entry points for drugs into Europe given its close ties with Latin America and its proximity to Morocco.

Latin America is the main source of cocaine and Morocco is a key source of hashish, a sticky brown substance made from the resin of the cannabis plant.

SHOW COMMENTS