"I am a victim of domestic violence" - Actress Chika Ike opens up

Actress Chike Ike pens an
open letter to her fans,
opening up about the physical
abuse she suffered in the
hands of the man she called
her husband for five years.
Find her story below...
The past three years has
been a very emotional
period for me. I focused my
energy on work and to
build back my self esteem.
its been really hard for me
to come out straight and
talk about this because
sometimes I pinch myself
to wake up and not believe
that I was a victim of
domestic violence. I've
been through a lot in my
life, faced a lot of
challenges but this is one
topic I've tried so hard to
avoid and have been
waiting for the right time
but I have come to a
resolve that there's really
no right time because
every second of the
day,lives are being lost due
to domestic violence. I was
a victiim of domestic
violence in my marriage
and that was the singular
reason I left my marriage,
aside other reasons.
Growing up as a girl. I was
always known as the sweetest
kid on the block, before I got
married, I have been through
some relationships and for
once no man had ever laid a
finger on me. The first time it
happened in my marriage I
didn't understand it because I
am not the type of woman a
man beats but I guess there
are no types. It just happens
and no woman deserves it. As
a young girl I thought it was
love or his way of expressing
his emotions,after every
beating he pleads , cries and
says it won't happen again,
once again I thought it was
love and made excuses for
him. Over the years when it
kept happening consistently I
started looking for other
definitions for it. I started
loosing my self pride,self
esteem , self worth, and most
painfully i lost a pregnancy
(Miscarriage) I almost lost my
life in the process then I
realised how serious and
abnormal it really was.
I have heard and read a lot of
accusations from ignorant
people who don't know my
story,I guess that's why they
are ignorant. I was 20yrs old
and very naïve to the world
when I got married ." They
said I married for money" LOL.
I was married to a corporate
guy,who had a 9_5 job in a
bank, Lives in a rented 2
bedroom apartment at Egbe..
So do the maths! . I married
for love. I did a traditional
wedding. A white wedding and
a court wedding. So that's how
much I wanted to be married
forever. For five years I
hoped, prayed & wished that
one day it will all change. But
the last straw that broke the
carmels back was during a
heated argument he threw a
glass jug to my face and I
dogged it and it shattered on d
wall. I saw death flash before
me and I made a decision to
save my life. I left my
marriage.
Am not saying this to draw
pity from anyone because we
are entitled to our opinions
and believes. I am not also
saying this to discourage
people from falling in love
because its a beautiful feeling
and I still believe in it. I am
saying this to educate, share
and talk about my experience
as a victim of domestic
violence because it is real.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN