Mile Ignjatovic admits beating wife: I have no excuse
On Hype television's Pretres, the singer confirmed he beat his wife, and spoke about his childhood and his mother's death when he was 14 or 15.
Milomir Mile Ignjatovic, a singer, confirmed on the show “Pretres” on Hype television that he beat his wife. Kurir and Telegraf reported his words on October 19, and both outlets say it is the first time, after a long stretch away from the media, that he has spoken publicly about his wife.
Asked whether it is true that he beat his wife, he answered yes. Neither his statement nor the reports name his wife or say when the violence took place.
What did Ignjatovic say about the violence?
Ignjatovic said on the show:
Yes (it’s true), unfortunately, yes. That’s what I said at the start, there are some things I am ashamed of, and I truly am ashamed of it. Those are some moments in my life that I don’t like to remember. I went through something in my childhood, and I repeated it. I have no excuse for that.
He went on in the same conversation, rejecting any explanation:
Nothing was so terrible, nothing so big that someone did something to me that would make me do that. It doesn’t matter how anyone looks at me now or what they think of me. That’s how it is, and that’s life; I can’t change that time now. If I could go back to that time, I would do things completely differently. What is left for me is to be ashamed of it, and I will be ashamed as long as I live.
The singer also talked about his professional and private life on the show, but his wife came up only in this part of the conversation.
What did he say about his childhood and his mother?
According to Telegraf, Ignjatovic also described a family tragedy from his youth. Asked whether it is true that his mother took her own life, he confirmed:
Yes, I was about 14 or 15, I had finished eighth grade. I had only just finished it then.
He mentioned family conflict and the violence his mother suffered from his father as a possible cause. Asked whether his father was the reason for the tragedy, though without claiming to be sure of it, he said:
Well, probably yes, that disagreement… Now, whether that was the solution? It’s not certain, but that’s how it is.
Telegraf adds that the singer is still, as the paper puts it, haunted by unanswered questions about why it all happened.
What else is known?
Ignjatovic himself drew the link between what he lived through as a boy and what he later did, saying he “went through something in my childhood” and then “repeated it.” He did not say what exactly he went through in childhood, at least not in the parts of the statement the media published.
Neither Kurir nor Telegraf says whether his wife has spoken publicly since the show aired. The reports also give no information on whether any proceedings have been brought against the singer.
