Story Number One

Story Number One
When quarantine
became a deadly hell

A 28-year-old woman escaped from the
darkness of her house. She had beautiful, light
coloured hair, eyes like honey and she was a
tall woman. She was from one of the poor
streets of Garmian and had two daughters
and one son. With tears in her eyes she told
her story: “My house is like an oven in flames
to me. We had to leave our former home in
January due to an unaffordable rent. The
landlord kicked us out and we moved to
another old house, which was cheaper. My
husband was working before, but due to the
Corona virus he lost his job and the spendings
for his family became difficult for him. I am
breast-feeding my new-born baby, so that I
do not have to pay for baby food.

Everyday he said bad words to me and
kept lamenting making me mentally ill.
Before the lockdown, things were better,
because each day he was working, and he
only came back home in the evening. But
during these days he stayed at home and
he filled my home with bitterness. He was
complaining and talking in a depressed
way. And I tried everything to find a
solution, but there was nothing left. It was
all senseless. Each day when he came
back home, I forgave him everything that
had happened before and gave him a new
chance. I decided not to get mad having
my children in my mind and them being
the victims in the end.

I welcomed him with a glass of water, but
he spilled the water and he became angry
and said bad words to me. After a while he
told me to stop visiting my parents‘ house
and I agreed, so my parents would not find
out that we have issues. I told my parents
that everything was okay and that I am not
visiting them due to the virus. My husband
made my children spit into my face and
encouraged them to say bad words to me,
he influenced them until they were
annoyed with me and he said bad things
about my parents. He warned me not to go
outside the house and I stopped visiting my
parents and any of my other relatives. So,
there was no one I could go to, to speak out
and ask for help.”

The hopeless woman said: “Secretly I visited
my mother-in-law’s house and I told them
everything, hoping they would help me
solving our problems. But they blamed me.
My mother-in-law and my sister-in-law said:
Why did you marry him then? Why don’t
you adjust to him? Leave your children to us
and go back to your parents. I returned to
my dark and cold house hopelessly and
wished to die. And I started to think low of
myself because everyone hated me and said
bad things to me. There was not a day that
my husband would give me some money. He
made me stop working, forced me to put a
veil on and locked me inside the house.

As my last option I called my mother. She was
angry with me and said: Do not come back. It
would be a shame for us because of your
children. One day my husband said: I do not
want to see you anymore. Get out of my sight...
We started arguing. He hit me so badly that my
entire body was full of bruises. And I left my
house and went to stay at my parents’ house. I
do not know where to start to tell the story of
my life, how should I end? I have so much
sadness inside me and it is extremely hard. My
mother wanted me to go back to my husband’s
house, so not to lose the right over the children.
My father was angry, and he swore: You should
not set feet into your husband’s house again.
Get the divorce.

My children werde with me. My husband’s
family sent a lot of people to talk to me and to
ask me to go back to him, but I did not go. I
do not want to return to that bitter life. I
wanted to kill myself so many times, to burn
myself, but then I told myself, carry on, it will
get better soon, I have to endure it. But it was
senseless. I finally decided to give the
children back to my husband“. Saying those
words, she was crying, and she carried on:
“The last time, my parents-in-law wanted to
come to pick me up and my father handed
my children to them. It was like the end of
the world to me.

My children where crying and clinging on to
me while screaming. They pulled them away
holding them tightly, while my children were
screaming. My mother was screaming and
said: Do not take them. I will die without the
children. Under the pain of the loss of my
children I lost control over my body: The
screams of my children echo in my brain ever
since. And every second is a death to me. My
parents-in-law were shouting loudly: Why
don’t you come back? Your children are your
responsibility and they will die without you.
My husband gave me so much pain I cannot
go back to that hell again, not even for my
children.

If I could, I would go back in time and never make
the mistake of marrying. Because I was a child; I
was studying at that time. I was 15 and a half
years old when my husband asked for my hand
and I decided to get married. My parents
disagreed to the marriage. But I did not listen and
got married. After the wedding he made me stop
studying. In the beginning he was good to me.
Until the beginning of this year. But during the
time of this quarantine my life got completely
destroyed.
Being far away from my children haunts me.
Every day from dusk till dawn I am drowning in
thoughts, tears, and dreams”.