long before I fell into a deep sleep and was woken up by the screaming abuse that he hurled in my face.

He grabbed my neck and fiercely pulled the collars of my blouse upwards and pushed me onto the floor. Luckily my daughter remained sleeping undisturbed by what was happening to me, but I could not reach out to her whilst he decided to beat me to a pulp.

I lay there whimpering like a lost child as he punched me to death. I tried to curl up into a ball, but I couldn’t. I was already sore and in pain from giving birth, but now I knew I was definitely ‘home’.

It took me some time to find the strength to shuffle from the floor and reach out to the armrest of the sofa and glance at my sweet innocent child who lay peacefully sleeping in the