Rise in domestic violence victims, for whom home is not a safe place

With families around the world confined to their homes to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, fears are rising of a surge in domestic violence.- AFP

TOKYO (The Straits Times/ANN): A night of conversation at home, over dinner and alcohol, turned tragic on Sunday (April 5) for a Tokyo couple who had followed advice not to go out due to the coronavirus outbreak.

A toxic mix of factors -- inebriation from 5½ hours of drinking, the stress of spending hours cooped up at home and mounting pressure over household finances -- led husband Kazuo Makino, 59, to snap when his wife, Miki, 57, told him her income would be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.