A man was arrested after calling police to a bloodied basement apartment in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood early Monday morning where he'd allegedly gotten into a fight with a woman, leaving her face bruised and swollen.
The man, 40-year-old Ismail Mohamed, used a razor to cut the area around her eyelids, telling officers he was trying to reduce the swelling, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Mohamed faces charges including assault and battery, mayhem and kidnapping and was ordered held without bail until at least a dangerousness hearing Thursday, prosecutors said. It wasn't immediately clear if Mohamed had an attorney who could speak to his arrest.
District Attorney Kevin Hayden characterized the incident as a case of domestic violence, though officials said both Mohamed and the woman said they weren't in a relationship.
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"We see domestic violence take many forms, but an assailant cutting above and beneath a woman’s eyes in a stated attempt to ease the swelling caused by the assailant himself is both bizarre and disturbing. As with all domestic violence victims, this victim will be supported by prosecutors and victim witness advocates specially trained in these cases,” Hayden said in a statement.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
Mohamed called 911 about 5:50 a.m. to report the assault in the basement apartment in a building on Charlestown's Cambridge Street near Brighton Street, prosecutors said. Mohamed was on a bed while the woman was on the floor, bleeding from her face and near a blood-covered pillow and blanket.
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The woman couldn't open her eyes and seemed disoriented, prosecutors said, with swelling around her eyes, mouth and cheeks as along with the cuts above and below her eyelids. Mohamed allegedly told officers the fight took place in the apartment, then he fell asleep, only to discover the woman injured when he woke up — leading to him to try and reduce the facial swelling by cutting her face.
