Simon Hunter
A MAN who assaulted his wife during a live broadcast via the social network TikTok has been sentenced to a year in prison by a court in Spain’s Castilla y Leon region.
A judge found the defendant, who was identified with his initials D. F. and is 32 years old, guilty of domestic violence.
‘In a public and conspicuous manner, in front of thousands of people, [he] attacked his wife, with the intention of damaging her physical integrity and humiliating her in public,’ the judge stated in her ruling.
The victim, who is 23 years old and was identified with the first letter of her surname, S., told investigators that she had received ‘two beatings’ at the hands of D. F. prior to the TikTok incident.
She did not, however, opt to press charges against her partner over the assault during the live stream.
This did not stop the case from going forward, given that under Spanish law a report from the victim is not necessary for a domestic violence incident to reach the courts.
As well as the year in prison, D. F. has been given a restraining order that stops him from coming within 300 metres of her, her home or place of work, a ban on contacting her, as well as a three year ban on carrying any weapons.
The couple are of Bulgarian origin and live in Soria province in the northern Castilla y Leon region.
The incident took place in the early hours of January 28 while the young woman was taking part in a competition on TikTok.
According to Spanish press reports, the three other contestants – all young men – were joking about how attractive she was. It was then that her husband struck her across her face.
Initially, S. claimed that the assailant had been her father. Then, after the clip went viral on social media, the couple appeared together on another live TikTok stream to claim that the whole incident had been staged in order to gain them followers and income on the app.
The man was eventually arrested by the Civil Guard after he went to file a report about the threats and abuse that he was receiving after the incident.
Prison sentences of under two years are usually suspended in Spain when it is a first offence. It was not clear on Monday as to whether D. F. would have to go to jail.
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