http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7433371%255E2862,00.html
Herald Sun
Man free as bashed wife is deported
By GEOFF WILKINSON
October 2, 2003
A MAN who beat his wife with a broomstick has escaped justice after
she was dobbed in as an illegal immigrant and deported before charges
could be heard.
The young woman was removed from the country because neither
Victoria Police nor the Immigration Department would meet the cost of
keeping her here until the case went to court.
Serious assault charges against her husband, who is twice her age,
were withdrawn after she was sent back to a Pacific island.
The woman, who came to Australia on a 14-day tourist visa and later
married, was deported four weeks after she reported the assault to
police.
She had been married about 18 months when she was assaulted early
this year, but was here illegally because she had not applied for a
spouse visa.
Immigration authorities were told the woman was an illegal immigrant
by an anonymous caller soon after her husband was charged by police
with assault.
The man had earlier told police he would send his wife back to her
home country village if the charges against him were not dropped.
An intervention order sought by police on the woman's behalf after
charges were laid prevented the elderly man from threatening,
harassing or intimidating his young wife.
A few days later she was arrested by immigration authorities and taken
to Maribyrnong Detention Centre.
She remained in detention until she was deported on February 26.
Charges against her husband were withdrawn on March 5 -- two days
before he was due to appear in court for a mention hearing.
Women's Domestic Violence Crisis Service director Rhonda
Cumberland said she was appalled that the man would "live to fight
another day" while the woman was denied justice.
"Clearly women in her situation don't have any rights as citizens, but
they do have human rights," Ms Cumberland said.
A law enforcement agency can apply for a stay of deportation
proceedings if a person unlawfully in Australia is required to be part
of pending legal proceedings.
The Immigration Department can then issue a criminal justice visa,
which allows the person to remain in the country until the case is
concluded.
But the agency seeking the special visa is responsible for all costs.
Victoria Police decided not to pursue a visa on the grounds of time and
cost, a senior officer said yesterday.
Some police believe the Immigration Department should have kept the
woman in detention until legal proceedings against her husband ended.
But a spokesman for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said the
Migration Act required the department to deport non-citizens held in
detention as soon as possible.
WOMEN seeking help with domestic violence issues can ring the
Women's Domestic Violence Crisis Service on 1800 015 188 or the
Immigrant Women's Domestic Violence Service on 9898 3145.
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