Young mother brutally beaten by her landlord in front of three-year-old son

A 26-year-old woman has filed a police report after her landlord burst into her Mosta apartment and administered her with a severe beating in front of her three-year-old son, during which she sustained injuries to her face, knee and foot.

Her alleged offence: having left a window open with the blinds blowing out.

The incident took place at around 3pm on Saturday at a Mosta apartment block where both the landlord and tenant reside.

After visiting the polyclinic where the young Maltese woman – who prefers to remain anonymous while the police investigate – was certified as having sustained abrasions and bruises to her face, leg and knee, she filed a report on the incident at the Mosta police station.

But to quite literally add insult to injury, the police have not been able to print out a copy of the report this weekend because, according to family members speaking to The Shift, the sergeant who took the report will not be in again until Monday – even though the family called at the police station not more than an hour after the incident.

Horrified family members speaking to The Shift on Sunday describe how after the landlord, whose name is also being withheld for the time being, noticed blinds flying out of an open window of the young mother’s apartment.

He first telephoned the young mother, who was looking after her toddler-aged son in what she falsely believed was the safety of her home, “verbally assaulting her”, after which she hung up on him.

Matters escalated and the landlord was soon pounding on her front door and shouting while the mother and son were resting on the sofa. The terrified woman phoned her father to let him know what was going on but, since she refused to open the door because she was so scared the landlord had in the meantime illegally let himself in with his own copies.

The landlord, who is described by the woman’s family members to be some four times larger and more than twice the age of the “petite” 26-year-old, burst in, “pushed her to the floor and started hitting her in the face. He then took her mobile and hit her in the face with it.

“He continued verbally assaulting her while she was screaming for help and trying to protect her three-year-old son at the same time.  When she managed to get hold of her phone again, he left the apartment.”

In addition to her physical injuries, the woman has been left traumatised by the incident and is living in fear for her safety and that of her son.

According to family members, no action was taken by the police and the landlord went on to “enjoy his evening”.

The woman returned to the police station on Sunday to get a copy of the police report, but was told to come back on Monday when the sergeant who took the report would be back on duty.

Speaking to The Shift on Sunday, the woman’s mother said, “I am counting myself lucky that she was not killed by this crazy landlord. You think your house is your haven, this is unbelievable. He knew she lived alone and that she was on her own in the apartment with her son.

“This person is simply crazy and should be in jail or, even better, in Mount Carmel for assaulting a woman in front of her child in her own apartment. It is just disgusting. I truly cannot express myself, if I were to read this as a post on Facebook I would have been disgusted, let alone when the victims are my daughter and grandson.

“This person should be taken off the streets and locked up with immediate effect.

“Even if my daughter had done something wrong, if she had broken the blinds, I would have bought him 60 pairs if this could have been avoided.”

The family, so far, is unaware of what action, if any, has been taken by the police against the landlord. The mother and son had to leave the apartment abruptly on Saturday with only the belongings they could quickly gather together.

Family members will return to collect the rest of their belongings as the mother is too traumatised to return to the home she shared with her son. The lease and deposit have been paid until the end of the month.

The toddler, quite understandably, has also been left traumatised by the incident. The first thing he did when he saw his grandmother after the beating was to demonstrate how the man had been kicking his mother.

“Like this,” he told her, kicking his leg into the air.

The young mother’s family is also deeply concerned about other tenants in the block, on Triq Patri Guze Delia in Mosta, since the same landlord rents out all the apartments in the building.

They hope action is taken and his licence is withdrawn by the authorities, not just for the sake of the mother and daughter, but so others are not treated to the same ordeal.