Retired teacher sentenced for torturing wife of 32 years

A retired schoolteacher who tortured his wife for 32 years was sentenced by a southern French court on Wednesday to 10 years in prison.

A woman demonstrates against domestic violence in Toulouse AFP/Remy Gabalda

René Schembri, 71, first of all denied all the allegations of physical, sexual and moral violence againts his wife, 70-year-old Colette, although the experts' reports established the facts of the case.

Colette Renault, who still had scars on her face and hands when she went to court, had twice tried unsuccessfully to escape - in 1971, four months after getting married, and in 1977.

"Ten years seem reasonable," she said after the sentence was passed. "But I would have preferred less if he had sincerely admitted what he did to me."

Colette told the court that her husband had beaten and sown up her genitals, burnt her thighs, paralysed her vocal chords and caused her to lose an eye.

On Tuesday Schembri finally asked his wife for forgiveness for some of the brutality but still accused her of being complicit in his crimes.

His wife's lawyer, Laurent Epailly, rejected the possibility of a sado-masochistic relationship.

"Colette didn't have the choice of saying no," she said. "The only time she had a choice was when she ran away."

She eventually managed to escape in 2002 and filed charges in 2009, four years after she had won a divorce.