Domestic abuse allegations: Emma Murphy’s former partner speaks out
Emma Murphy caught the attention of millions yesterday when she spoke out against her estranged partner, Francis Usanga.
In a six-minute long video clip posted to Facebook and later viewed millions of times, the Dublin mother-of-two spoke of the physical and mental abuse she says she suffered at the hands of her ex-partner.
But in conversation with The Irish Sun today, Mr Usanga, a fitness instructor and gym owner, denies many of her allegations.
Although he admits infidelity – indeed, a child he fathered is due to be born to another woman next week – he denies ever punching Ms Murphy.
"Yes I did push her. I pushed her, I didn't punch her," he explains to the newspaper. "It was just the force."
"I did sleep with someone else. But I did not punch and I absolutely did not split her head open.
"I know nobody will believe me but I am not a violent person. I never, ever want to hurt anyone," he added.
Mr Usanga, 28, is well-known in Dublin body-building and exercise circles and has appeared as a fitness expert on RTE's Today programme.
One school-friend of Ms Murphy's also exclusively told SHEmazing! that they believe Emma was cheated on with more than one woman.
"He would meet a lot of clients at his gym and certainly there were women afterwards who claimed they had sex with Francis while he was with Emma.
"More than one woman afterwards said they were pregnant too."
They added: "He's a big guy – he obviously looks after himself and really focuses on weight-training; he'd pack a lot of punch, certainly. You wouldn't square up to him, put it that way."
The fitness instructor, a former Mr International Ireland, furthermore told The Sun that his business has been impacted by Emma's video.
“My business is now destroyed," he said. "I’ve clients demanding their money back. I don’t know what to do."
He says he believes Emma's black eye is a result of the fall she maintained after he pushed her. "She fell like, either on the car or the ground," he explained.
Yesterday, singer Sinead O'Connor took to her Facebook page to offer her support to Ms Murphy. Sharing her video, she called her an "extremely brave and inspiring young woman."
She went on to state: "Anyone who would hit the mother or father of their children is also definitely going to hit the children.
"That's the other reason to leave." Sinead added that she reckoned Emma deserves a "knighthood".
By chance, just last year Francis appeared in Sinead's 8 Good Reasons video. He even posted a snap of him with the singer on his website.
