The Civil Guard has released a woman and her child under the age of two in a hotel in the town of Alcossebre (Castellón) where they had been held for almost two months by the victim’s partner, a man who had a history of gender violence in his country.
It was a daughter of the victim residing in France who denounced last Thursday, February 16, that her mother had been illegally detained by another person for drug trafficking and that she was in a hotel in this town of Castellón.
Through the La Jonquera-Le Perthus Police and Customs Control Center, the Civil Guard received notice of the complaint and the possible location of the victim from the French Judicial Police, as reported by the armed institute in a statement.
A Civil Guard patrol went to the Alcossebre hotel and met with all the staff staying, where it located a man of French nationality on the top floor accompanied by a two-year-old boy. When asked if there was anyone else, this man showed the agents the documentation of a woman also of French nationality.
To verify that there was “no problem”, this person voluntarily agreed to let the agents go inside to check the condition of the possible victim. Inside the room, they observed a woman lying on a sofa-bed, who was in apparent poor physical condition and was “highly nervous.”
While one of the agents treated and entertained the minor, another interviewed the victim alone, who stated that she was illegally detained by her partner, who constantly beat her and that they had been staying there since Christmas Eve.
The woman stated that she could not move or get out of bed because she had been severely hit in the leg, showing the civil guards some bruises and “obvious signs” of serious physical abuse.
The agents have arrested the 36-year-old man and French nationality, sentimental partner of the victim, 45 years old and also French nationality, as the alleged perpetrator of a crime of gender violence.
The victim was assisted by the medical services on the spot and later transferred to the Vinaròs Regional Hospital in the company of their two-year-old son.
The action was carried out by members of the Civil Guard of Benicarló, Alcalá de Xivert, the Judicial Police Unit of Castellón and the Judicial Police Team of Vinaròs.
