She was even tied up by the man who was supposed to cherish and love her, and worse, stripped in front of their children.

These are some of the horrors that Erin, an Indonesian national, suffered at the hands of her abusive Malaysian husband.

“I never knew that this was to be my fate,” said the petite mother of four in her 30s, as she struggled to hold back her tears while recollecting the abuse she suffered in 2014.

Before she took to the rostrum to share her story at a Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) event today, Erin appeared to be like anyone else in the room. But just a minute into her testimony, she broke down as she recounted how her marriage turned into a nightmare.

Her marriage started falling apart when her husband began using methamphetamine when their second child was just two years old.

Later on, Erin’s husband started his own business and became more reclusive. He communicated less with his wife and children, preferring to isolate himself in the room.

She said the physical abuse started in 2014 as her husband became increasingly violent.

“He would scold me and beat me. He would slam my head against the wall, pull my hair, choke me. He even tied me up and stripped me in front of our own children.

“He would burn me with cigarettes, beat me with sticks and pipes. Once he even threatened me with a parang. All my children saw their father abuse me.”

Erin’s abuse wasn’t just physical but also psychological, as her husband would run her down, calling her a prostitute and saying she would only “fetch RM20 on the street”.

“Is this how a man treats his wife?” she said.

Erin wasn’t the only victim of her husband’s rage. She said once her child complained of being hungry and her husband had picked up the child and thrown the child on the bed.

She said at times, after being abused she would run to her friend;s house but her husband – who refused to renew her visa – would come looking for her and apologise, with promises of change and to renew her visa.

Her husband had also refused to help her register her youngest child who doesn’t even have a birth certificate.

Erin said she’d relent because of her children, but after a couple of weeks, her husband would go back to his abusive ways.

“Then one day, I thought about committing suicide. I even smashed a mirror so I could slash my wrist. I felt worthless. But I thought about my children and who would look after them if I died.”

Erin said that was her turning point and that from then on, she decided to do what it took to ensure her children’s safety.

She waited for the right time to get protection and went to lodge a police report.

“The police sent me to the hospital for medical attention and later on I was referred to the WAO.” The WAO is currently handling Erin’s case.

Earlier, the WAO released its case study report, titled “Perspectives on Domestic Violence” in conjunction with International Women’s Day.