'Vicious' man who made wife prisoner sentenced to 12 years behind bars

An entitled husband who made his wife a prisoner in their home under a "tyranny" of extreme violence has been thrown behind bars for up to 12 years.

The 26-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, became the first person sentenced for the offence of servitude in Australia today.

He pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to an aggravated charge of causing a person to enter into or remain in servitude and two assault charges.

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Justice Jane Dixon said he had dominated his wife using a campaign of "vicious" abuse.

He had deprived her of freedom "in almost every aspect of life", including stopping her leaving home without him, dictating when she could use the toilet or seek medical care and cutting off her contact with family, she said.

"The aggravated servitude in the present case involved a regime of extraordinary cruelty and tyranny perpetrated over a lengthy period," she said.

The couple met in 2020 and moved in together later that year, when his abuse began, with his violence escalating after she gave birth to their child in October 2021.

He stopped her going to university and, for one year before she was liberated, he did not allow her or their baby to leave their Melbourne apartment without him.

When he left to see friends, he would force his wife to stay in their bedroom and made her video herself to ensure she did not leave.

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He beat her with poles and electrical cables until she bled or bruised when she did not do what he wanted, including performing domestic duties such as laundry to his standards.

The man forced his wife to transfer all her money to him, depriving her of financial freedom, which amounted to more than $50,000 over three years.

In August 2023, the woman sent a video of herself with black eyes, extensive bruising and cuts to her face and body to her mother who took it to police.

She was found shaking inside the bathroom and apologised to the police "saying it was all her fault", the court was told.

When the man was arrested, he blamed the entire ordeal on his wife.

"She was asking for it," he told police.

The man, who has already served more than a year of his sentence, will be eligible for parole in nine years.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).