D.R v B.R
| Jurisdiction | Bahamas |
| Judge | Madam Justice G. Diane Stewart |
| Judgment Date | 14 December 2022 |
| Year | 2022 |
| Court | Supreme Court (Bahamas) |
| Docket Number | 2020 |
BS 2022 SC 155
The Hon. Madam Justice G. Diane Stewart
2020
FAM/div/00291
IN THE SUPREME COURT
FAMILY DIVISION
Michael Saunders for the Petitioner
Nerissa Greene for the Respondent
The Petitioner, D.R was lawfully married to the Respondent B.R on 14 th January 2008. There are two children of the marriage, namely B.L.R (male) born on 20 th January 2009 and D.T.J.R (male) born 14 th August 2012. The Petitioner is employed with The Royal Bahamas Police Force. The Respondent is employed as a Firefighter at the Airport Fire Department. The Petitioner filed a Petition on 30 th June 2020 praying for the dissolution of the marriage on the ground that the Respondent has treated her with cruelty since the celebration of the marriage. The Respondent also filed an Answer and Cross Petition on the 25 th September 2020 defending the Petitioner's Petition and seeking his own dissolution on the ground of the Petitioner's cruelty to him.
The Petitioner alleged that since the celebration of the marriage, the Respondent has consistently called her names such as “whore” and often telling her that he wished that she would die of breast cancer like her mother. The Respondent constantly told the Petitioner that he is glad that the children are not black like her and he constantly belittled her for not getting promoted.
The Petitioner suffered from depression, sleep loss and lowered self-esteem due to the constant verbal abuse of the Respondent. In or about 2011, the Respondent threatened the Petitioner by tapping a licensed shot gun while she was walking to a bus stop and he pulled up beside her causing her terror and dismay.
The Petitioner also claimed to have suffered physical abuse many times from the Respondent which ranged from consistent slamming of her hand, twisting and spraining her hand. He would also punch her. He broke one of her nails by his physical abuse. On one occasion, the Petitioner being in fear of her safety and well-being, stabbed the Respondent in self-defense after he had choked her. The Police had been called to the home on many occasions after physical altercations between the parties to handle the domestic disturbances. The Petitioner is currently undergoing psychiatric counselling.
There is no romance and intimacy in the relationship as the parties have lived in separate bedrooms in the home for the past four years.
In cross-examination she confirmed that she limited the complaints made to the police, and that she had never put the matter before the court prior to this action.
She never sought medical attention from his behavior and he was never arrested.
She denied using her fellow police officers to incite fear in the Respondent.
She admitted to being intimate with the Respondent after the incident of cruelty.
In the Respondent's Answer and Cross- Petition, he denies treating the Petitioner with cruelty as alleged and asserts that the Petitioner in fact treated him with cruelty and committed adultery during the course of the marriage.
The Respondent alleged that tensions were high throughout the marriage. The Petitioner would utter painful and hurtful words to him. The Respondent recalled the Petitioner telling him that she wished he was dead in front of the children of the marriage. The Petitioner has threatened to kill the Respondent and brags that she will get away with it because she is a Police Officer.
The Respondent was stabbed in the hand by the Petitioner in or about April 2020. The Petitioner would leave the matrimonial home on her days off and not return until the following morning leaving the Respondent to care for the children of the marriage on his own. The Respondent asserts that he heard the Petitioner on the phone having a sexual conversation with another man.
The Respondent adamantly denies that he told the Petitioner that he wishes she would die of breast cancer like her mother. He also denies telling the Petitioner that he is happy their children are not black like her. The Respondent also denies belittling the Petition for not being promoted on her job. He recalls always being supportive of the Petitioner.
During the twelve years of the marriage, the Respondent states that he has never been abusive towards the Petitioner. The Petitioner has spit in his face, punched him and sliced his hand with a butcher knife over the years. The Respondent also recalls that the Petitioner attempted to roll him over with his own vehicle after being caught in his car with another man.
The Respondent alleges that he and the Petitioner were last intimate in December 2019 and April 2020 before the stabbing incident.
The Respondent stated that the Petitioner would be out extremely late and he would have full responsibility for caring for the children of the marriage. When he would question the Petitioner on her whereabouts she...
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