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Orlando Shooter Omar Saddiqui Mateen’s Ex-wife says he was Mentally Unstable and Ill

NewsGram Desk
  • Yusufiy said Mateen was "normal" at the beginning of their marriage, but soon he started getting angry seemingly out of nowhere
  • She said her husband treated her like a hostage and kept her from seeing her family
  • Mateen's father, Mir Seddique said that his son may have been motivated by homophobia and not by his Muslim faith

Mentally unstable and ill is what the ex-wife of Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Saddiqui Mateen said about him while she characterized their brief marriage as "hell."

On late Sunday, June 12, Sitora Yusufiy spoke to reporters about the four months she was married to the man responsible for the worst mass killing in U.S. history.

Yusufiy said Mateen was "normal" at the beginning of their marriage, but soon he started getting angry seemingly out of nowhere.

She said Mateen became physically abusive, flying into rages and beating her for little reason, such as if the laundry was not done when he came home from work.

She said her husband treated her like a hostage and kept her from seeing her family. She said with her family's help, she finally was able to get away one day, leaving all her belongings behind.

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Yusufiy said despite his bad temper, the news that it was her ex-husband who was behind a mass murder "shook me off the ground," and that this was something she would never have expected.

Homophobia as motive?

An undated photo from a social media account of Omar Mateen, who Orlando Police have identified as the suspect in the mass shooting at a gay nighclub in Orlando, Florida, U.S., June 12, 2016. Omar Mateen Image source: REUTERS

Mateen's father, Mir Seddique, told the NBC television network that his son may have been motivated by homophobia and not by his Muslim faith.

"This had nothing to do with religion," Seddique said as he recalled a recent incident in downtown Miami, another Florida city.

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"He saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry," the father said. "They were kissing each other and touching each other and he said, 'Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.' And then we were in the men's bathroom and men were kissing each other."

Seddique apologized to the victims of the shooting. He said relatives "weren't aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country." (VOA)

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