Husband threatens with physical harm: what to do, how to protect yourself legally

Unfortunately, physical and psychological violence in the family is a fairly common occurrence, the reason for which lies in the inability of the female side to independently provide proper protection for themselves.

In an attempt to assert themselves and show “who’s boss,” the spouse often resorts to a variety of methods of influence - from psychological pressure (threats, raised voice, insults) to the use of physical force (from beatings to attempted murder).

When faced with regular threats from your husband, you should not wait until they come true and you become another victim of domestic violence. Read this article about what a woman should do if her husband threatens her with physical violence.

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Corpus delicti

In accordance with Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Threat of murder and infliction of grievous bodily harm,” threats of death, as well as infliction of grievous bodily harm, are criminally punishable.

The basis for bringing the husband under Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and starting criminal proceedings may be one of the following:

If there have been threats of physical harm or murder;
If the voiced threats were accompanied by real attempts to implement them.

Today it is allowed to report a husband’s threats in oral, written (paper version) or electronic (via the official website) form.

Does the collector have the right to take care of your debt?

To do this, you should read the loan agreement. If it prohibits assignment (assignment of the right of claim), then the bank has no right to sell the debt to third-party organizations. It is worth noting that recently loan agreements indicating such a prohibition are practically not concluded. That's why:

the collection agency can either buy the debt in full;
or, for a fee, help the bank cope with the situation and return the borrowed money.

In both the first and second cases, the direct consent of the debtor is not required, unless there is a prohibition on this in the loan agreement.

But in any case, the creditor-lender is obliged to notify in writing that the debt has been sold or the collection work has been entrusted to another person.

If we are talking about challenging the right of collectors to work with a specific debtor, for example, when:

the agreement provided for a ban on assignment;
or no one notified the debtor,

then it is necessary to submit an application to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, since it is in charge of a separate department for supervision of the activities of banks on the issue of compliance with current legislation. This can be done on the official website of the Central Bank, the alternative is a lawsuit.

Determining the reality of threats

In order to accuse a spouse under Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Threat of murder and infliction of grievous bodily harm,” it is necessary to prove the unequivocality and certainty of the threats voiced by him, i.e. the potential reality of their implementation.

The reality of the threats may be:

Subjective, when the wife is convinced that her husband really intended to kill her, but the husband tried to simply intimidate her, limiting himself to psychological influence on the wife;
Objective, when the threats of physical harm or murder were real and the husband really wanted (or even tried) to kill his wife.

Regardless of the nature of the threats, the corpus delicti is formed already at the stage of voicing the spouse’s intentions to cause physical harm to his wife, which can lead to death.

Translating threats of physical violence or murder into reality is prosecuted under another article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Find emotional support

Being stalked can undermine your emotional well-being and make you feel less safe. It is normal that in situations like this, people may feel very scared, anxious, helpless, and then feel guilty and ashamed of their helplessness.

Remember that you are not to blame for anything, regardless of the details of your particular history of relationship with the stalker.

Wife's mistakes

A threat is an attempt at psychological manipulation on the part of the person who voiced it. Thus, he wants to morally break his wife in order to subsequently receive an “ideal” wife who will unquestioningly fulfill his every whim.

Erroneous behavior on the part of a woman in such a situation can be:

Silence. Often women deliberately hide tyranny in the family so as not to spoil the reputation of the “ideal couple” or to give way to unnecessary rumors, ridicule, and gossip from neighbors, friends and acquaintances. Among other things, wives hope to the last to correct their negligent spouse, they believe that he himself will understand his mistakes, and at one point he will come with flowers and an apology. However, as sad practice shows, such radical changes happen extremely rarely, and if a man initially showed despotic traits, there is no point in hoping that they will change to Samaritan ones;
Reluctance to seek help from law enforcement. The mentality of Russian wives is such that reporting their own husband to the police is considered a manifestation of female cowardice and insolvency, as well as the apogee of shame on the institution of the family. Therefore, gritting their teeth, women endure verbal attacks from their husband to the last, cry at night, complain to friends, but do not go to the police, as they should do, until it comes to the implementation of threats;
Humility. Communication with friends, domestic TV series and modern talk shows convince Russian women that disrespectful and tyrannical attitude on the part of the husband is the norm, which should not be fought, but reconciled and submitted to him. However, this is not true. Every woman deserves to be treated with respect, if only because she is a woman.

Therefore, you should not endure attacks and threats from your husband, gradually earning yourself chronic neurosis or other nervous disorders.

Read about what to do and where to go in the next section.

Legal basis for the work of a collector

There is no law on the activities of collection agencies in Russia yet. At the same time, there is a law “On the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals when carrying out activities to repay overdue debts” and “On consumer credit”. They detail the powers of the collector and the restrictions on invading the debtor’s personal life. These standards also regulate the work of bank and other employees in debt collection. See also liability for non-payment of a loan, and what the bank can take away if there is no money to pay the loan.

One of the main things is that collectors can engage in collections if they are included in the register of debt collection organizations. Such information is contained on the official website of the FSSP.

What to do?

In a situation where, due to the husband’s voiced threats, the wife begins to fear that they could come true at any moment, she should act immediately, namely:

Do not stay with your husband one-on-one. When a conflict with a spouse threatens to get out of control and escalate into a real fight or even an attempted murder, you should leave the space (apartment, car) in which the quarrel broke out as soon as possible, going “in public.” The presence of eyewitnesses can curb the tyrant’s ardor, thereby guaranteeing the woman some protection from the realization of threats;
Call for help. It can be provided by a close relative, friend or acquaintance, as well as a neighbor or even a random eyewitness to what is happening. If at the time of a quarrel the spouses are alone in their apartment, the woman may try to call for help by starting to scream inside or running out onto the balcony, hitting the radiator, throwing heavy objects at the wall, and also performing other actions that can generate noise and attract attention;
Keep yourself in control. Until the moment a woman is completely safe, she should maintain equanimity of spirit until the last moment, not panic, and under no circumstances attempt to attack her husband, thereby opposing him. Almost always, men are physically superior to representatives of the fairer sex, therefore an attempt to provide physical confrontation on the part of the latter is more likely to only inflame the despot and push him to carry out his threats. Therefore, the most correct thing in this situation would be to imitate submission to your spouse, assent to everything he says, and try to at least temporarily calm him down;
Call the cops. The law enforcement officer who arrives at the scene will draw up a report and initiate a case if there are sufficiently compelling reasons for this, and if necessary, he will disarm the hot-tempered spouse and send him to the police station.

Necessary actions: step-by-step instructions

A petition is filed with the police.

It doesn’t matter whether real actions took place or whether the husband limited himself to threats - it’s WORTH filing a police report. As a rule, upon receipt of the first complaint about threats, law enforcement officers limit themselves to only warnings and preventive conversations with the enraged family man. To attract more radical measures of responsibility, you should report to the police after each scandal with your husband.

Report to the police station. On site, the woman will receive an application form to fill out, as well as a sample of the already completed application. It will contain the following information:

The name of the authority to which the statement of threats is submitted (in this case, the details of the police duty station are indicated);
Applicant details (full name, residential address, contact information);
Description of the reason for the appeal: how the quarrel began, what threats were made by the husband, how reliable and feasible they are from the applicant’s point of view, etc.;
Legislative reference confirming the legality and validity of the charges brought (Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
A separate item provides detailed information about the spouse (full name, place of residence, place of work, position held, age, presence/absence of drives, etc.);
If there is an evidence base, a list of materials is listed, for example: an audio or video recording in which threats are heard, testimony, etc.;
At the very end, the date of preparation of the document is indicated, as well as the personal signature of the applicant.

Please note that the police will not consider written complaints submitted anonymously.

After receiving an application, it is subject to registration, and then addressed to an authorized law enforcement officer for consideration.

The period for consideration of an application, according to the law, is from 3 to 10 days.

Powers of collectors

Collection agency employees have the unconditional right only:

for postal items to the debtor (in this case, it is prohibited to indicate on the front side of the envelope the amount of debt and the very essence of the obligation);

telephone conversations (no more than 1 time a day, 2 times a week, 8 times a month);
personal conversations (no more than 1 time per week);
text messages via mobile communications on social networks.

Moreover, they are allowed to do this within strictly designated hours:

on weekdays - from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.;
on holidays and weekends - from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Collectors know when they can call, but often violate these restrictions (see what a bailiff can collect for debts).

Evidence base

Collecting evidence when filing a complaint about threats to the police is one of the most important stages, and if you skip it, you should not be surprised if the complaint is left without consideration at all.

The following may serve as evidence of the illegality of acts on the part of a spouse:

Witness's testimonies;
Audio and video recordings;
Screenshots of correspondence with my husband (from the phone, from the computer);
Dictaphone recordings (for example, of a telephone conversation);
Testimony of the injured party.

All available evidence should be attached to the completed application in the form of additional documentation.

Collectors call about other people's debts

Often, collectors do not press on the debtor, but on the person who has no debts (see who pays for the loan of the deceased). If there is no loan and never was, but collectors are calling, then you can try to explain the contact error, the lack of debt obligations and arrears. This is usually enough to stop calls about someone else's debt. Otherwise, the algorithm of action is the same as that of the debtor. See also whether a wife must pay her husband's loan debt if he does not pay.

In addition, knowing how debt collectors can threaten a loan, it is better to resort to an additional measure: go to the bank in whose interests the debt collector is acting (he is obliged to introduce himself and provide information about the loan, the bank, the amount of the imaginary debt) and write a statement indicating lack of grounds for employees working with problem loans to contact you.

Links to legislative acts

Federal Law of July 3, 2016 N 230-FZ “On the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals when carrying out activities to repay overdue debts” Article 8. Restriction or termination of interaction with the debtor
Federal Law of July 3, 2016 N 230-FZ “On the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals when carrying out activities to repay overdue debts” Article 9. Notification of the debtor about the involvement of another person to interact with the debtor
Federal Law of July 3, 2016 N 230-FZ “On the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals when carrying out activities to repay overdue debts” Article 4. Methods of interaction with the debtor
Federal Law of July 3, 2016 N 230-FZ “On the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals when carrying out activities for the return of overdue debts” Article 13. Requirements for a legal entity carrying out activities for the return of overdue debts as the main type of activity included in the state register, its founders (participants), bodies and employees

Going to court

If, after considering the application, a decision is made to initiate a criminal case and begin proceedings, the parties to the case will be summoned to an initial hearing, during which the wife, as the injured party, will give the necessary testimony, as well as provide evidence of her husband’s criminal acts.

In turn, the husband, as the accused party, has the right to provide his evidence, which will help justify his actions and, ultimately, recognize his innocence.

Following the hearing, the judge may decide:

On the detention of the accused party;
On payment to the injured party of material compensation for moral damage caused.

The listed decisions can be made either individually or in combination - both at once.

Responsibility

For threatening his wife, an unscrupulous family man must suffer appropriate punishment. In most cases, the Criminal Code imposes restrictions on the freedom of the offender.

Liability may be chosen as a preventive measure :

With qualifying features;
Without qualifying features.

Let's take a closer look at each of them.

With qualifying features

The definition of the concept of “qualifying characteristics” is given in the second part of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Thus, it is understood as voicing threats based on racial, political, national or ideological hostility, or against the background of social inequality.

In this case, the following penalties are provided:

Forced labor for up to 5 years + ban on holding certain positions for up to 3 years;
Imprisonment for up to 5 years + similar restrictions.

Without qualifying features

In the absence of qualifying features, the penalties are determined by Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to it, for threats without motive, a negligent husband will face:

Restriction of freedom for up to six months;
Imprisonment for up to 24 months;
Forced labor for up to 24 months;
Mandatory work for a period of 400 to 800 hours.

Other forms of interaction between the collector and the debtor

Other ways to achieve payment of the debt by the borrower are allowed only with the written consent of the latter. These may include:

reporting to the debtor’s place of work about problems with debt obligations, reporting to work, communicating with superiors and colleagues;
calls and visits to the place of residence of persons specified as contacts when concluding the contract;
requirement for early repayment of the entire debt if there is a delay of less than 60 days;
illegal actions provided for by administrative or criminal law (damage to property, insults, threats, slander), as well as situations where debt collectors threaten the debtor’s neighbors;
communication with relatives, loved ones, spouses, children and parents of the debtor.

Restrictions on communication with relatives

Currently, the collector is prohibited from calling and asking relatives to pay off the debt. To obtain such a right, you must obtain written consent from the debtor and from the relative himself. All other cases of contact are illegal.

Advice from lawyers

If you receive death threats, you can be held accountable in the following cases:

If there is evidence that the person has received death threats (to break your head, throw you from the 10th floor, etc.), and not abstract intimidation, in the spirit of “I’ll hit you now”;
The voicing of the threat was accompanied by reinforcing actions. For example, a husband promised to kill his wife by putting a knife to her throat.

In a situation where an attacker hurls threats at you, under no circumstances should you respond to them or threaten in response. The response will further anger the offender and encourage him to commit atrocities that he is only threatening to put into practice;
Collect as much evidence as possible that will confirm the fact of the threats voiced if you are going to contact the police with a statement against your negligent spouse;
When filing a petition for threats, refer to Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Subsequently, this will become the basis for initiating criminal proceedings;
If law enforcement agencies refuse to open a criminal case, as well as provide other assistance, pack up and leave the house in which you are humiliated in every possible way, and perhaps one day even deprived of your life!