The case
This may be a forced marriage, according to the lawyer of the suspect who stabbed her husband in the arm. 25-year-old Khadija, born in Morocco, moved to the Netherlands in 2023 to marry the man who is now suing her. The age difference between the two is large, although it is not clear exactly how large. Now he is demanding 5,000 euros in compensation for the wounds suffered.
The man is also in the room. Jeans, mountain boots, grayish stubble. As the hearing progresses and it becomes clearer how unequal the relationship was, he sinks further. “I did not buy her, but I agreed that she had to be a very good woman,” he allegedly told the examining magistrate.
Khadija is staying in the women’s shelter with the couple’s two-year-old daughter. She does not speak Dutch, has no income or network outside her husband, from whom she has yet to divorce on paper.
According to the suspect, her ex threatened to send nude photos to her family and hit her more often
Khadija’s hands are folded in her lap. Dark brown hair falls over her hood. The interpreter sits to the left of the suspect, her lawyer to the right. Khadija must answer before the judge for the stabbing and also for violating the restraining order that she was imposed after the incident. “I didn’t just stab the gentleman,” she says. “It was self-defense. The gentleman started assaulting me.” During her police interrogation she still had a black eye and several bruises.
Khadija says her ex punched her in front of their daughter. That he threatened to send nude photos to her family, bad-mouthed her deceased parents and hit her more often. She says he tried to stab her with a medium-sized kitchen knife and she took the knife away and, on impulse, stabbed him. Her ex stated to the examining magistrate that they had been having relationship problems for some time. According to him, Khadija was mentally ill and maintained contact with other men.
It remains unclear exactly who is to blame. One person’s word is opposed to another’s. The man’s lawyer reads out his victim statement in which he states that he is still in shock, that he did not suspect what Khadija was capable of, that his two older children from another woman distanced themselves from him because of Khadija’s screams.
Khadija’s lawyer wants to talk about a WhatsApp message that her client received the Saturday before the hearing. The sender calls herself a municipal official “working on her file.” The lawyer summarizes: Khadija is urgently requested to return to her husband. She suspects that the message does not come from the municipality but from the man himself, who is now on the edge of his seat.
It’s clear that both need help, but I don’t know which story is true
The officer determines that there was an unsafe home situation: the woman had bruises, the man had a cut. From that moment on the stories diverge. Khadija lives in a shelter and says that her ex severely restricted her, that she had no passport and was completely dependent on him financially. She states that she withdrew an earlier complaint against him because he demanded it.
According to the officer, there is legal, but not convincing evidence. The police investigation was limited. “It is clear that both need help, but I don’t know which story is correct.” He points out that the man wanted to withdraw the report but is now submitting a claim for damages. “It’s hard for me to reconcile that.” The officer asks for an acquittal: too much remains unclear. It is certain that Khadija broke the contact ban. Her ex had invited her home to make up for it. But given the acquittal that the officer is requesting for the first offense, he does not believe that imposing a punishment is appropriate.
The judgment
The judge finds that both parties have suffered injuries. “Sir’s was more serious than yours,” she tells Khadija. “But I don’t think you intended to cause serious bodily harm.” The injury – two cuts that required five stitches – does not indicate this either.
Was Khadija guilty of common assault? “I agree with the officer that it is not easy to determine what exactly happened,” says the judge. “The officer says that it cannot be established that you deliberately wanted to hurt your husband, I follow that. I therefore acquit you of this fact.” The situation is different for violating the contact ban. “You were there that day when you were not allowed to.” The judge declares her guilty for this. But because Khadija was found innocent of the charge that led to the ban, the judge will not impose any punishment on her.
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