The judge used the Bible to justify violence against his wife

A Portuguese judge has caused fierce debate over sexism, suggesting that an abused woman has deserved punishment because she had committed adultery.

In 2015, he was lured into a hostage-taking situation by his former boyfriend on the condition that he wanted to reconcile it with him. But when she arrived, he had summoned her former husband to confront her.

Both had beat the woman by hitting her with a hammer, writes Euronews.

Both men were sentenced to parole last week, but now it turns out that the judge had said this while considering the initial verdict:

A woman's adultery is a serious assault on her husband's honor and dignity. There are societies where the woman who committed adultery was stoned. In the Bible, we can read that a wife who betrays her spouse must be put to death”.

Human rights groups have sharply criticised the judge's decision, viewing it as evidence of broad patriarchal and sexist attitudes in Portugal.