Alabama Domestic Violence in the International Press

Once again Alabama appears to international readers to be a haven for brutish, ignorant men and women. The latest is an AP story in the International Herald Tribune, describing the arrest of a man in Cottonwood who’s charged with holding his estranged wife’s leg in an ant bed, causing her to be stung at least 100 times.

Polkce say Lorenzo Martin was apparently angry because his wife filed for divorce. They say she had been beaten on the head and had at least 100 ant stings when doctors treated her.

Martin fled into the woods when a female passerby stopped to help the woman but later turned himself in. He’s charged with third degree domestic violence and unlawful imprisonment now, but police say they may later charge him with a felony.

Cottonwood Police Chief Jim Smith called Martin’s actions “torture” and said he had never seen anything like them before.