Sorry, this is LONG...
OK, I am not sure where exactly in the world you are, but let me tell you how the conversation will go vis-a-vis the car, him moving out etc.
BADLY
He will refuse to do it. If you push it, you could risk serious injury.
I have to be brutal here with you EC, I may be wrong, I hope I am, and if so I'm happy to be corrected.
My feeling that he is with you for some perceived gain, passport, a better life or he thought you had money.
So for the last few years he's been living with YOU, and YOU bought the car, but he has put it in his name.
As I said, I don't know where you are, but in Egypt this is the number one scam the unsuspecting both foreigners and gullible Egyptians are caught with, Bat eye lids, buy me a car honey, it has to be in my name alone, cos of the, nationality, your identity, tax (yada, yada yada) and basically then when you are finished with, if nothing else, you have bought him a car. Some sharper foreigners will insist the papers are in their name, but the salesman will put the documents in the local person's name and as it's in Arabic, the foreigner doesn't know.
My guess is that he is bored, has realised you are not the cash cow he thought you would be and as he is not being worshipped, adored and his favourite traditional meals cooked on demand, sex on demand and unquestioning obedience of his every whim and desire, 24 hours a day.
He is very possibly playing the field, because he has been raised to expect to marry up to four women, all of them virgins and has probably tired of you. In my case, the local women targetted 'H' because he has money and out of hatred and jealousy that he has had the audacity to marry from outside the country.
He beats you because he can. He has not been raised with any affection toward women and has ZERO emotional intelligence.
Sorry, but I have seen this before. I hope that I am wrong. I just want you to see that really there is no redemption for this man, there is no chance you will ever see the person you fell in love with again, because that was actually an act. An act to reel you in, and hook you. Now he has done that, you are trapped there, he has lost interest.
Erm, hate to shatter your illusions Longtalljosie about all men. It's true, not all normal men who were raised in normal countries, where women are valued are violent cheaters.
However many, many men raised in these places know they have a right to be violent cheaters if they so desire. They don't see any wrong in it.
This story is taking place in an islamic country. whatever the koran says or doesn't say has been long forgotten when it comes the the basic rights of women. To be clear, this is not a bash at islam. Religion has nothing to do with the abysmal rights of women in these places, this is ingrained through generations of societal misogyny. It happens in both muslim and christian families.
Men in these societies are raised to see women as low beings, good for only a couple of things. Often they are treated as possessions. The boys are idolised and literally never, ever hear the word No. girls are mostly tolerated until they are old enough to serve their parents. As soon as they reach puberty, the fathers look to marry them off, before they can get up to any trouble. And let some other man take the responsibility.
Until she is married the girl is often bullied by her father, and brothers if she has them. She won't be allowed out, she will be chaperoned, or she stays at home, has no male friends and is trained to be a wife from as early as possible.
The mother will not have any say in how her daughter is treated realistically, as she too is only a woman. She has no right to raise her voice to her H, and soon any son she has will treat her as his father, her husband always has done.
The wife is further undermined by her ILs. Literally, the man's family takes over her life when she marries. This breaking of her bonds with her family further weaken her position, weaken her access to any shred of support, and isolate her from the only family she has. She in turn will do the same to her DIL, because that is the way things are done. She will be beaten, she will put up with it, because she has no other option.
That's the background. Not pretty is it?
What is EC to do?
OK so we all agree to panic, if you are in no immediate danger, is not a good idea.
PLEASE, remember that the car is just a car, the house/flat is just a rental. Your life and your freedom, your happiness is worth more than any house, more than any car.
You need to be ice cold clinical in this, the next few days, and you must be prepared at a moment's notice to flee, because literally you have no idea when and if he will blow again. If you have ever read Betty Moody's Not without my Daughter, then you'll know how much nerve she had to have to get herself out of her predicament. Your task is easier than hers, so if she can do what she did, you can do what you need to do.
You need to be on stand by. Until the day you leave. If you can ask your friend for a safe place to come to if you need it, at any time day or night, it might be a good idea. You know the police are not an option, you need to think for yourself.
Photograph the bruises.
Get your bag together, get some cash, get the funds for a flight together, from anyone if you have to. Store the bags at your friends.
Give notice on the flat, get help to do this from your friend or someone at the embassy if you need to, and don't tell buggerlugs.
sod the car, it's a lost cause. If you are to pursue this transfer, he could harm you
Get someone to take the cat for you temporarily if need be, if you really want to bring your cat to the UK, perhaps your friend can help with this once you are settled back home. you are the priority here.
Once you have the date you need to leave the flat, book the flight for a week or so before and arrange to get to the airport.
Leave a Dear John letter for buggerlugs, telling him when he needs to vacate the property and go.