A woman has told a court she suffered 17 years of severe abuse at the hands of her former partner - causing her to miscarry and become blind in one eye.
The trial is set to last three weeks. Photo: justice.govt.nz
The man and woman, who both have name suppression, were together for 17 years and had six children together before she left him in 2014.
The trial of the defendant, who faces 49 charges including kidnapping, assault with a weapon, threatening to kill and breaking a protection order, began in the High Court in Auckland today.
His ex-partner said he would punch her in the face most weeks to the point where she gradually went blind in one eye.
"He would use anything he could find, wires, chords from appliances, sometimes he would cut them off the appliance if he couldn't find anything.
"He knew I was losing my sight but would not let me go to a doctor," the woman said.
Crown prosecutor Fiona Culliney asked the claimant if the abuse stopped after she went blind.
"Nah, he didn't care, he still continued to hit me on that side of the face, if anything I had some of the worst beatings after I lost my sight."
The woman told the court he would ask their children to get a bat-like object that he kept near their front door in order to beat her with it.
She said it was not until she started studying hospitality in 2014 that people took notice of her.
"One time I wore thick tights so they couldn't see my legs, but five people asked me about it, they all knew what was going on.
"One time I had to miss three weeks of course because he beat me so bad," she said.
The trial will hear from 19 witnesses including the couple's children over the coming three weeks.
