A woman and her children were forced to live in a tiny room on the roof of their three-storey home in a “malicious and sadistic” relationship, according to divorce papers seen by The Sunday Times of Malta.

In accepting her request for a divorce, a judge acknowledged that the woman and children had been subjected to “cruelty and violence” spread over a number of years and a life of “incredible suffering” because of her husband’s behaviour.

Mr Justice Robert Mangion made the observations as he threw out the man’s objection to the divorce application filed by his estranged wife who wanted to sever all ties with her husband, who subjected her to physical and emotional violence.

Despite objecting to the divorce request, the man failed to appear in the Family Court to substantiate his objection, Mr Justice Mangion said.

The unnamed couple tied the knot in 1992 and had two children before their marriage hit the rocks, leading to legal separation in 2004. However, they decided to give their relationship a second chance and the woman had two further children – in spite of the relationship deteriorating in 2005 when the family were subjected to incidences of domestic violence.

In 2011, the court ordered the man to leave the matrimonial home because of the violence.

The court heard the couple had an “enormous” home, spread over three floors but the woman and the children were forced to live in a crammed room – where they ate, slept and even attended to their natural needs, without any privacy – because the man did not want them to dirty the house.

‘She was covered in bruises. It was scary’

A psychologist also testified in court to explain how the woman asked for help in 2005. But after toying with the idea of ending the relationship, she always opted to stay on, fearing an increase in violence and the risk for her children.

The psychologist recalled seeing the woman when she was eight months pregnant, with her legs covered in bruises.

“It was scary,” the psychologist told the court.

On a home visit she had also seen how the woman and her children were forced to live in a crammed room on the roof. “It was bad,” she said.

The court heard how the woman frequently called helpline 179 to report violence and had reached a point where she was so scared and psychologically scarred that she was not even able to look after herself.

The older children also testified in court that their father was violent towards them.

In considering the man’s objection that the couple were still living under the same roof up to four years before the divorce application was filed in 2013, the judge said that locking the wife and children in a room upstairs was not the matrimonial life the legislator had in mind.

He ruled that although they lived in the same house, with the woman and children upstairs and the man downstairs, this qualified as living apart and therefore granted the woman the divorce.

Robert Piscopo, who appeared for the woman, said the ruling was considered to be a landmark judgment because a divorce was granted even though the couple had not been apart for four years, as dictated by Malta’s divorce laws.

Sources said no criminal proceedings had been instituted against the man because the woman had always withdrawn her complaints to the police out of fear.