A 59-year-old Algerian man is in pretrial detention, having been arrested for the mistreatment of his 42-year-old wife and their three children at their home in Maria de la Salut. The Guardia Civil learned of the situation through a report filed by a social worker. The man was arrested on March 18, charged with assault and domestic abuse.
Social services were first alerted when the couple's eldest daughter, aged 14, mentioned at school that her father mistreated her mother. This was not long after the mother and the children - another girl aged ten and an eight-year-old boy - had moved to Mallorca from Algeria. He was working as a mechanic in Montuiri and had made the application for family reunion in 2024.
At the end of February this year, the school psychologist called the social worker to tell her that the eldest daughter wanted her to go to their house. The girl had told the school that her father had beaten her mother. The social worker had previously seen no physical signs on the woman's body; this was because she was completely covered except for her face.
On March 9, the social worker visited the house to speak with the mother and children without the father present. The social worker found there was no food in the kitchen. The children all said they were hungry. A doctor later confirmed that the boy was malnourished.
On March 17, the mother took the younger daughter and the boy to a paediatrician for a medical assessment. The girl stated that her father assaulted her mother and the children almost daily for no reason, and that there was hardly any food in the house. The mother confirmed the assaults and expressed the fear that she and her children had.
The following day, the social worker and the mother met at the children's primary school. They agreed to go to the town hall in Maria de la Salut and explain the domestic situation.
The woman refused to file a complaint for fear of possible reprisals but said she wanted to leave the house and take the children with her. The local police took her and the children to a shelter in Manacor. That same day, the Guardia Civil arrested the father.
In court, the judge noted that he had withheld the mother's and the children's documents. He denied all allegations and stated that the family was happy, that he didn't hit or insult them, and that they could leave the house whenever they wanted. However, when he was arrested, he had the documents of all the family members in his possession. He said this was in order to make photocopies, but he didn't explain the reason and blamed this on his eldest daughter having "bad influences".
The judge observed that the mother and children were only given milk, bread, water and tuna. They had all suffered abuse without any apparent reason. The father would hit them on the head with an open hand and punch them in the back. Last year, he punched the eldest daughter in the face, splitting her lip. They had told the social worker that he insulted them.
Ordering pretrial detention, the judge stated that this was for the family's protection.