Domestic Violence | Abuse Within a Relationship

Domestic violence has many faces; physical assaults and psychological pressure directed against a partner or against children are the most common forms. The experienced and IHK-certified detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Erfurt and Thuringia are your discreet helpers: +49 361 2243 0020.

Women Can Also Be Perpetrators | Case Example

It is undisputed that in the majority of cases domestic violence is committed by male family members (husband or father). However, that women, too, may be prone to uncontrolled outbursts of anger is illustrated by our case example from 2016:

Suddenly Husband and Child Missing

One morning, Gabriele Sanders came to our detective agency in Erfurt because her husband and her eleven-year-old daughter had disappeared without trace. She reported that she had returned home the previous day at midday after an early shift at the hospital and had not found either of them there. She assumed they were out together and would return shortly, but by evening neither had reappeared. She attempted to reach her husband on his mobile phone (switched off) and subsequently contacted their entire circle of relatives and acquaintances, yet no one knew their whereabouts. Calls to local hospitals were also unsuccessful. A missing person report filed with the police was initially declined on the grounds that, firstly, the period of absence was too short and, secondly, a custodial parent was accompanying the minor child, so it could not be assumed that they had been abducted against their will.

Our private detectives from Erfurt enquired into possible motives for the disappearance in the hope that our client could provide an explanation for this sudden course of action. After some hesitation, she stated that she feared greatly for her daughter, as her husband was prone to physical violence and had allegedly beaten her countless times. Alarm bells rang for our investigators, and our Thuringian detective team devised an operational plan together with the client in order to achieve results as efficiently and swiftly as possible.

Place of Refuge – Locating the Missing Persons Exposes the Client

Our private detective agency from Thuringia and the client agreed that those individuals in whom the husband and daughter were most likely to confide should be approached and questioned personally by our investigators. Three detectives set off simultaneously; one travelled to the husband’s mother, who lives in Eisenach in western Thuringia. Upon ringing the doorbell of her detached house, a lady of around seventy years answered. The investigator asked whether she could provide any information regarding the whereabouts of her son and granddaughter. During the conversation, the voices of a child and an adult man could be heard from inside the house, whereupon our detective requested permission to enter. The lady refused; however, our investigator firmly pointed out that her daughter-in-law had the right to know the whereabouts of the joint child and that he would in any case inform her immediately of the local findings. Before the lady could respond, a middle-aged man came to the door and invited our Thuringian detectives inside.

They sat down in the living room for a discussion. The man, who introduced himself as Martin Sanders, and his daughter Silvia explained why they were hiding at his mother’s home from our client: Mrs Sanders herself was the one prone to violence – at least according to Mr Sanders. The triggers often seemed entirely trivial – which is not to suggest that there are ever “valid” reasons for domestic violence. She would work herself into a rage: a grocery item forgotten during shopping, the car not washed, which she used daily to drive to work, toothpaste stains in the sink – each time she would lose control. Previously, she had “only” directed her anger at Mr Sanders, and he had endured it silently because he believed he had to keep the family together. However, two days earlier their daughter had left her schoolbag in the corridor after school instead of taking it to her room, as she intended to go to a friend’s house after lunch to complete homework together. Mrs Sanders had stumbled over the bag in the corridor and, in her fury, had not only shouted but also struck her daughter. That had been the decisive moment for Mr Sanders to leave his wife – and for our detective agency in Erfurt to find itself working for what appeared to be the wrong side.

No Results in Cases of False Allegations

As it was now one person’s word against another (mother versus father), the daughter was asked which account was true – she confirmed her father’s version. He agreed to our proposal to consult a psychologist with whom we occasionally cooperate, so that the child could be interviewed again and the credibility of the statements assessed. The psychologist concluded that, with a very high degree of probability, the mother was the perpetrator of the violence.

Our private detective assured Mr Sanders and his daughter that their whereabouts would not be disclosed to our client. He contacted the other two investigators, who had visited addresses in Erfurt and Weimar, as well as the operations management, to report the developments. Subsequently, we informed our client of a supposedly unsuccessful operation and stated that further investigative attempts would have little prospect of success. Ordinarily, in such cases we openly disclose the reason for discontinuing investigations and confront clients with their false statements, for which they may be held explicitly liable under the investigation contract if damages arise (in this case, unnecessary detective costs had been incurred due to the false information, which Mrs Sanders was, of course, required to cover; the costs for the psychologist were borne by us). In this specific instance, however, our detective team refrained from informing Mrs Sanders of our knowledge of her violent conduct, as she was aware of the addresses visited by the three detectives from Erfurt. She would merely have needed to go to those locations to find her husband and daughter.

Several weeks later, Mr Sanders contacted us to thank us for not revealing their whereabouts to his wife. He filed for divorce and applied for sole custody of his daughter.

Help for Victims of Violence: Private Detectives in Erfurt

If you are also a victim of domestic violence, our detectives will assist you in compiling court-admissible evidence of the assaults. Our detective agency in Erfurt is highly experienced in dealing with this sensitive subject and acts with appropriate tact and discretion. If you wish, you may describe your case to either a female or a male investigator. For an initial non-binding enquiry, please use our contact form or call us on +49 361 2243 0020.

Note

To preserve discretion and protect the personal rights of clients and target persons, all names and locations in this case report have been altered beyond recognition.