A woman who said her ex forced her to use sex toys and then beat her has decided to drop the case. 

The woman’s decision induced a magistrate to drop criminal proceedings against the woman’s 36-year-old former partner, allowing him to return home a free man. 

The case stemmed from a December 20 incident when the man allegedly showed up at the woman’s house with a whip and handcuffs, forcing her to use them against her repeated refusal.

It was just days after the two had split up. The two had remained friends since they shared the same workplace. 

But the man kept bombarding her with messages, inducing her to file a report at the domestic violence unit.

She withdrew that report when she was told that her ex would face charges under arraignment. 

However, the situation deteriorated the following week when the man turned up at her place and, after being allowed inside, physically assaulted her. 

He was later charged with sexual harassment, unlawful arrest of his ex, causing her slight injuries, attacking her as well as insulting and threatening her beyond the limits of provocation. 

He pleaded not guilty. 

His alleged victim testified twice, a week after the incident and again this month. 

That was when she explained that throughout her 21-month relationship with the accused, he had never laid a hand on her.

She believed that it had been a “one-off” incident, probably because her ex was under the influence of some substance.

The whole affair was a source of great stress, forcing her to seek counseling. 

Since then, she had forgiven the accused and did not wish to proceed with the criminal action against him, the victim told the court. 

When delivering judgment on Wednesday the court, presided over by Magistrate Gabriella Vella, observed that since the parties were formerly a cohabiting couple, the case fell within the definition of domestic violence in terms of law.

When an alleged domestic violence victim asks the court to halt proceedings against the alleged perpetrator, the court may either order proceedings to continue or else may uphold the victim’s request, taking into consideration the best interests of the alleged victim, any minors involved and any relevant third parties. 

In this case, the court observed that the alleged offences were not “insignificant.” But on the other hand, the court could not ignore the victim’s testimony about the impact the ongoing court case was having upon her. 

When all was considered, the court upheld her request and abstained from taking further note of the charges against the accused.

Names of both parties were banned from all media publication. 

Inspector Audrey Micallef prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel. Lawyer Edward Gatt appeared parte civile.