Anne van Pletsen, a Tokyo resident for 13 years, was lying in a bed in Akasaka Hospital in Minato Ward last year when she decided to end her three-year marriage.
In March 1999, van Pletsen, a 37-year-old South African corporate secretary, was hospitalized for two weeks with a ruptured kidney, which she claims she suffered when her Russian husband kicked her.
Recalling the last days of her marriage, and her husband's constant violence, she voiced bitterness not only toward her former spouse but also toward the police, who, she claims, were reluctant to protect her until she was actually hurt.