Police said Tuesday they arrested an Egyptian man in Florence after his wife, who had been beaten by him, begged hospital staff for help.
Police say the woman, who has a six-month-old baby and a two-year-old child with her husband, pretended to be ill to get to a hospital where she pleaded with emergency room doctors for assistance.
She said her husband had been abusing her for three years and even threatened her with death after he had imposed what he called the rules of Islam on their household.
Family of the woman, who is 30, said the 33-year-old husband strictly controlled her, refusing her permission to leave the house and barring visitors unless he was present. The breaking point came last month, the woman said, when he beat her and threatened her with a kitchen knife.
The woman’s family says he also abused them, beating and slapping her mother and demanding money to buy a house.
Abuse of women has become a major social concern in Italy, with the government recently passing legislation to try to help end what is termed “femicide”.