A woman was practically forced to become her partner's prisoner, where she was frequently beaten, forced into prostitution, blackmailed and also ordered to falsely report having been raped, a court heard on Tuesday.

The woman gave evidence in proceedings against Ans Abdulla Algheziwi, a 31-year-old Libyan national who faces a string of charges, including forcing his partner into prostitution and living off the earnings, assaulting and injuring her and violating the conditions of previous court sentences.

The woman recounted how she met the accused through internet chats and started living together in St Paul’s Bay and later in Qawra. He was frequently drunk and then resorted to beating her, she said.

The police intervened after one such case but she subsequently dropped the charges.

Woman said she lost her job because her face was so badly bruised that she could not go to work

The woman said she lost her job because her face was so badly bruised that she could not go to work.

Yet, despite the abuse, Algheziwi forced her to somehow provide money. She got some money from her son, who lives overseas, but it was not enough to pay for Algheziwi’s drinking problem and he forced her into prostitution, using her phone to get her "clients".

The woman reported the domestic violence to the police but could not bring herself to report that she had been forced into prostitution. The police took court action, whereupon the woman said she started being followed by unknown people, who told her to drop the case, or she would be killed. At one time she was threatened with a knife, she said.

The woman recounted how last week in Birżebbuġa, Algheziwi, while drunk, insisted that she contact a particular person who, he said, was to hand her some money.

When the person said he was at work, Algheziwi went to his workplace and assaulted him with a knife.

As people gathered to see what had happened, the woman said Algheziwi forced her to claim that the reason for his assault was because the other man had raped her.

However, when she was interrogated by the police, she decided to reveal everything, and the police launched a fresh investigation into Algheziwi.

Asked why she had not reported the abuse earlier, the woman said she feared her partner, with whom she lived "like a prisoner". He also used to blackmail her by telling her he had recordings of her having sex with her "clients" and he would distribute them if she did not do what she was told.

At the end of the sitting Algheziwi was held in remand, with no application for bail having been made.

Police inspectors Roxanne Tabona, Roderick Attard and Joseph Busuttil prosecuted

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Alfred Abela appeared parte civile while legal aid lawyer Martin Fenech appeared for Algheziwi.