A sickening thug who forced his wife to shave her hair off and whipped her with a belt has been slapped with a restraining order. Kalanther Nibraz, 45, subjected his wife of 17 years to a "life of misery" and behaved in an "appalling way".
The abusive husband was unemployed and spent his wife's money on drugs. After looking through her phone on one occasion, Manchester Crown Court heard how the abuser whipped her 10 times with a belt and ordered her to shave her head.
The pair, from Sri Lanka, were married in 2006 after meeting two years prior and moved to the UK to start a new life, having three hildren together in Manchester. However, the relationship was described as "abusive"' from the start, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The court heard that Nibraz's wife overheard conversations about holidays while working at a Marks and Spencer store in Piccadilly station, and asked her husband "what these were". He responded that she should be "grateful" to be in the UK.
He was said to have spent time in Sri Lanka before returning in October 2019, with the coronavirus lockdown meaning he couldn't travel back again. He told his wife of other sexual relationships he was engaged in while back home and that he was unhappy because his wife wasn't "rich or beautiful".
Nibraz spent his wife's wages on cannabis and blamed the family's financial troubles on her. The court heard he stopped her from applying for British citizenship and told her that her friends were "bad influences" before preventinf her from communicating with them. He called one of her friends and "terminated the relationship".
Nibraz learned that his wife had also had an affair at some stage, the court heard. In one incident in October last year, he searched her phone as she left it at home to go to a mosque with one of her children. Nibraz then attacked her with the belt and dragged her to the bathroom of their home and instructed her to shave her hair off, which she did.
In another attack, she ran a bath for her husband as he was in a "bad mood". When she quizzed him on when he might return to Sri Lanka he became "angry", kicking her in the stomach and throwing a baby bath at her.
Police were called after she went to see a friend. Following his arrest, Nibraz told officers that he "treated his wife well" and had given her "freedom". He claimed that his wife shaved her head voluntarily.
Defending, Bridget Bailey said there had been "issues throughout the marriage" which escalated when he returned from his homeland in 2019. She said: "He found out about his wife's affair, she has been very open about that in her statement. He went on a downward spiral. It is in that context that the abuse escalated."
Judge Recorder Andrew Long, told Nibraz: "For many years your appalling behaviour towards your wife has made her life a misery. I have no doubt that it has had a substantial averse effect on her psychological wellbeing."
Nibraz pleaded guilty to one count of displaying controlling or coercive behaviour, and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. A restraining order was imposed, banning him from contacting his wife for five years.
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