The pregnant wife of Gaurav Endlay warned him that he risked harming their unborn baby while he allegedly choked and sat on her, a court has heard.
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Endlay, 40, of Chudleigh, appeared at a hearing in the Launceston Magistrates Court on Monday where he intended to plead not guilty to two charges of common assault.
The first was for an incident in either February or March when Endlay allegedly slapped his wife, pulled her hair and spat at her during a protracted attack in a Reedy Marsh residence while blaming her for his drink driving.
The second charge concerned an incident on September 30 when Endlay allegedly choked his wife, who was pregnant at the time, and punched her nose while sitting on either her chest or stomach.
Family friend Anne-Margaret Cann had known Endlay since 2017 and met his wife when the couple returned from their arranged marriage in India last year.
She gave evidence at the hearing, stating she noticed the woman sitting on her front step in Deloraine on October 1, looking "withdrawn, beaten and deflated".
Ms Cann said she was told of the alleged assault that occurred the previous day, and was shown bruises on her neck and upper lip.
Ms Cann said the woman told her she tried to flee the house, but Endlay allegedly dragged her back by her hair and sat on her, prompting her to say "Gaurav, remember the baby, you can't hurt the baby". She also disclosed the alleged incident from earlier in the year.
"She mentioned the abuse started at Reedy Marsh. He pinched her, punched her, spat at her, called her names. At one stage or another, he called his parents and complained: 'Why did they make me marry this peasant woman from a peasant family," Ms Cann alleged to the court.
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Ms Cann walked with the woman to the Deloraine Police Station where they made statements, and Endlay was arrested and charged.
His police interview was played to the court, in which Endlay said his wife's pregnancy was making her "very angry".
"If this thing happened, then recently when the Sergeant came to our house she would have spoken about these things," Endlay said.
"Give her a few days, her temper will cool down, ask her again."
The woman also disclosed the alleged abuse to Denise Judd, a friend of Ms Cann, in Ulverstone.
Ms Judd said she was shocked at the woman's appearance, having first met her several months earlier.
"I thought to myself, 'oh my god, she was just so thin and so withdrawn'. The word I would use would be 'scared'," she said.
The hearing will continue in the Launceston Magistrates Court on December 2.