Lissette Ochoa domestic violence case

The Lissette Ochoa domestic violence case was one of the most well-known cases of spousal abuse in Colombia because of the couple's elite social status and for the brutality of the battering perpetrated on Lissette Ochoa by her husband Rafael Dangond.

Events

On July 29, 2006, Rafael Dangond and Lissette Ochoa attended a wedding party in the exclusive Country Club in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia. Dangond became aggressive after his wife Lissette was invited to dance by a group of friends who had traveled from Venezuela to attend the wedding, among them a young male who danced with her. [http://www.elcolombiano.com.co/BancoConocimiento/E/el_silencio_es_complice_1/el_silencio_es_complice_1.asp ElColombiano: Ante el maltrato el silencio es cómplice.] ElColombiano.com.co Accessed 03 December 2006.] While Ochoa was dancing, some of the wedding guests recount seeing Dangond sitting alone at the table. He later walked towards the bathroom and then came out with reddened eyes, presumably caused by alcohol or drugs. [http://dinamico.eltiempo.com/nacion/caribe/2006-12-01/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3349017.html EL TIEMPO: Rafael Dangond, esposo de Lizeth Ochoa, le pidió perdón públicamente a ella y a su familia.] ELTIEMPO.com Accessed 03 December 2006.] Apparently, Dangond became angry and jealous. [http://caracol.com.co/noticias/316659.asp CARACOL: A indagatoria el hombre que golpeó brutalmente a su esposa en Barranquilla.] CARACOL.com.co Accessed 03 December 2006.]

Once she returned to her seat, Dangond immediately ordered his wife to exit the event and, once outside, Dangond began battering her and pushed her into their car where the beating continued at approximately 2:00 AM. [http://www.eltiempo.com/nacion/caribe/2006-08-03/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3064847.html ELTIEMPO: Conmoción en Barranquilla por golpiza a una mujer en el parqueadero del Country Club.] ELTIEMPO.com Accessed 03 December 2006.] He drove the car erratically around the city while constantly hitting her for more than two hours. When they arrived home at approximately 4:00 AM, the violence continued. Ochoa desperately locked herself in a bathroom and used a cellphone to call her father, Jorge Álvaro Ochoa, who told her he was on his way to her apartment. She also warned him that her husband was armed and was yelling threats about killing himself, her, and her father. At this moment, Dangond knocked the door down, fired his weapon, and the bullet scratched his wife's armpit. [http://www.eltiempo.com/nacion/caribe/2006-08-03/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3064847.html ELTIEMPO: Conmoción en Barranquilla por golpiza a una mujer en el parqueadero del Country Club.] ELTIEMPO.com Accessed 03 December 2006.]

When her father, Jorge Álvaro, arrived to their building, she had managed to exit the apartment building where she met with her father, who recounted looking at her as if she had been a character from the film "The Exorcist". Her eyes were purple and swollen, her upper lip was basically touching her nose, and she had come out crawling. [http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Agosto042006/golpiza_bquilla.html ELPAIS: Golpiza de ganadero a su esposa en Barranquilla.] ELPAIS.com.co Accessed 03 December 2006.] Her father immediately tried to report the incident to the police, but was told to return later in the morning when the person in charge of those cases arrived, negligence that he and others would later criticize in the media. He then took her to a clinic where she spent more than a month interned after suffering multiple physical traumas mainly on her head. Doctor Humberto Caiaffa, who cared for Ochoa, said she had multiple fractures and had arrived to the clinic in a "lamentable" state.

National attention

The case gained notoriety thanks in part to Ochoa's aunt, Astrid Amador, who took pictures of her during the wedding and afterwards at the hospital. She e-mailed the pictures, and the story was basically spread by word of mouth [http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Agosto042006/golpiza_bquilla.html ELPAIS: Golpiza de ganadero a su esposa en Barranquilla.] ELPAIS.com.co Accessed 03 December 2006.] [http://es.wikinews.org/wiki/Hombre_de_clase_alta_golpea_brutalmente_a_su_esposa_en_Colombia WIKINOTICIAS: Hombre de clase alta golpea brutalmente a su esposa en Colombia.] es.wikinews.org Accessed 03 December 2006.] until the most influential Colombian news media reported the event and produced other numerous reports related to these types of cases that had been widely ignored in Colombia. [http://www.elcolombiano.com.co/BancoConocimiento/E/el_silencio_es_complice_1/el_silencio_es_complice_1.asp ElColombiano: Ante el maltrato el silencio es cómplice.] ElColombiano.com.co Accessed 03 December 2006.] [http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Agosto042006/golpiza_bquilla.html ELPAIS: Golpiza de ganadero a su esposa en Barranquilla.] ELPAIS.com.co Accessed 03 December 2006.] The investigation on the case was initiated, and Ochoa also filed for divorce.

Husband jailed and released

On August 4, 2006, Dangond turned himself in to authorities after a brief absentia and was jailed in El Bosque Prison for three months. [http://dinamico.eltiempo.com/nacion/caribe/2006-12-01/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3349017.html EL TIEMPO: Rafael Dangond, esposo de Lizeth Ochoa, le pidió perdón públicamente a ella y a su familia.] ELTIEMPO.com Accessed 03 December 2006.] He was formally accused on November 17, 2006, by Ochoa's family members in a sectional attorney office in Barranquilla. He was accused of being responsible for assault and battery, homicide intent, and carrying an illegal weapon. The attorney later decided on the case and absented himself from a final resolution and revoked the preventive detention, setting Dangond temporarily free. [http://www.fiscalia.gov.co/PAG/DIVULGA/noticias2006/seccosta/ScDolorosasNov17.htm Fiscalia General de la Nacion: Acusado Dangond por causar lesiones personales dolosas a su esposa.] fiscalia.gov.co Accessed 03 December 2006.]

oHo magazine article

Ochoa wrote an article called "¡Nunca más!" (Never again!) in the Colombian SoHo magazine, telling her side of the story. She called men who are violent toward women beasts and recalled her married life of nine years, during which she had had two children by her husband; she also mentioned that her husband had previously been violent to a lesser extent with her, signals that she had ignored and which had escalated to a point that had almost gotten her killed. [http://www.soho.com.co/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=4423 SoHo: ¡Nunca más!] soho.com.co Accessed 03 December 2006.]

Public apology and reunion

On December 1, 2006, Dangond recognized that he had psychological and drug addiction problems, including personality issues, and that he was being treated by professionals who were also treating their two children. He also said that he continued to love his wife and publicly apologized for the events of that night, apologized to her and his family and the society in general. He publicly thanked her for giving him a second opportunity to rejoin her as her husband. [http://dinamico.eltiempo.com/nacion/caribe/2006-12-01/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3349017.html EL TIEMPO: Rafael Dangond, esposo de Lizeth Ochoa, le pidió perdón públicamente a ella y a su familia.] ELTIEMPO.com Accessed 03 December 2006.]

ee also

*Women's rights in Colombia

References