SC affirms CA decision vs psychologically abusive husband  

THE SUPREME Court (SC) has affirmed the 2018 decision of the appellate court to convict a psychologically abusive husband who evicted his wife and children from their house and lived with another woman.   

In its decision promulgated on Oct. 7, the SC held that such is a violation of Republic Act (RA) 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.   

The respondent was sentenced to a minimum of six months and one day to eight years and one day of imprisonment, payment of P100,000, and mandatory psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment.  

The husband appealed the case before the High Court, citing that he was innocent and that not all the elements of psychological violence under RA 9262 were duly established.   

The High Court said, however, that the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the decision of a Zambales Regional Trial Court that first held the husband guilty of psychological violence, “committed no reversible error in affirming the conviction of (the) petitioner” as “all the elements of the crime charged were duly established.” — Bianca Angelica D. Añago