An African man from the country of Ghana has been convicted for placing a trash bag over his wife’s head, raping her, and strangling her. Now, the Ghanaian man’s lawyer is arguing that he should have a more lenient sentence because of his culture, where a man “must” satisfy her husband.
“They come from a culture where a woman has to satisfy her husband, even if she doesn’t want to,” the lawyer said at the hearing.
The female victim, a resident of Mol, in Kempen, woke up on Aug. 27 with a trash bag wrapped around her head. She was then raped and strangled by her husband, known by his initial of JS. The man now faces three years in prison but requested leniency from the Turnhout Criminal Court on Wednesday morning.
Police were called to the house on Aug. 27 for a domestic violence call.
“The rape was discovered in a special way. The case began as a case of domestic violence, but it was the defendant himself who put us on the trail of rape,” said prosecutor Hanne Hendrickx.
The victim told police she woke up with a trash bag wrapped around her head. Her husband, JS, was on top of her and tried to strangle her.
“She explained that she was afraid of her husband and that this needed to change,” said the prosecutor.
Despite his conviction, JS denied the facts of the case, saying he “only” raped her that night but did not commit other acts of violence.
“He said he only raped her and sometimes forced her to have sex when she didn’t want to,” the prosecution representative added.
The Belgian newspaper 7sus7 described the case, writing: “Visibly unaware of the seriousness of his actions, JS tried to minimize his comments to the police and the courts.”
Prosecutor Hendrickz stated: “He claimed that it was not coercion, but sexual relations intended to calm an argument. He is very jealous and never accepts a refusal from his wife on a sexual level.”
However, the victim now hopes that JS finally understands that they “do not live in Africa.”
“You cannot demand sex at any time, even while married,” said Hendrickx. “If he does not understand this, he will have to receive support to understand the norms and values of Western culture.”
The African man said he regrets the incident; however, his lawyer did most of the speaking.
“His wife works nights, so they sometimes don’t have sex for several weeks. They come from a culture where men can expect more from women, a culture where women must satisfy their husbands even if they don’t want to,” she said in court.
According to the defense lawyer, the victim wants her husband home again. They are scheduled to begin couples therapy on Jan. 12.
JS will be sentenced on Feb. 4.
