



RIVERVIEW, Florida -- An abused mother's brave decision to speak up is why she's now safe. Hillsborough County deputies say the woman's own husband and his parents were beating her and holding her against her will in their home. The couple's one-year-old child was there too. The woman's terrifying ordeal came to an end Saturday, September 2nd when she screamed for help -- and someone heard her.



"Who beats their wife up and has his mother and dad help him? Who does that?" a neighbor said.



Deputies say the answer to that question is Devbir Kalsi.



That neighbor, who knows Kalsi's wife, wanted to remain anonymous, but she had plenty to say about the allegations.



"Awful. Nobody should go through that. Nobody. I don't care who you are. I don't care how mad you are. They shouldn't. It just shouldn't happen," she said.



Investigators believe the abuse went on for awhile, and Kalsi's wife recently told her parents in India about it.



A deputy showed up Saturday morning to check on her, and eventually, the wife opened the door, screaming for the deputy to help her ad her baby.



The deputy had to force his way past her husband, who tried to slam the door shut.



"So brave, and I know she was probably protecting her baby more than she was even herself," Stephanie Payne, a neighbor said.



Investigators say Kalsi had his parents, Jasbir and Bhupinder Kalsi, also from India, fly in to help discipline his wife, who was "being disobedient."



On top of the constant beatings that left nearly her entire body badly bruised, she had a knife held to her throat, prosecutors say.



Thankfully, her baby wasn't hurt, but neighbors said they're shaken.



"Poor thing. I don't know what she must have been going through all of this time," Payne said. I almost wish I could say sorry to her for not knowing what was going on and not being there to help her. I'm just so happy that they're both in a safe place now."



"It's heartbreaking. I'm happy to see that actions were taken," Bob Hintze said.