Rihanna beating photo reveals the grim face of domestic violence

BY CRAIG NEWMAN

For nearly two weeks, news of a severe beating

suffered by singer Rihanna, allegedly at the hands of boyfriend, R&B singer

Chris Brown, and rumors of the incident’s severity have percolated in the

headlines.

On Thursday night, a photo posted by gossip Web site

TMZ.com put a face and photographic proof to the brutality suffered. The closeup

image portrays a woman whose face is puffy with deep bruising, black eyes and

apparent blood at the corner of her mouth.

(TMZ.com)

The picture matches accounts from the Feb. 8 — the

day of the Grammy awards, where Rihanna and Brown were scheduled to perform, but

cancelled at the last minute.

Brown, 19, was arrested on suspicion of making

criminal threats.

Twenty-one-year-old Rihanna has yet to be officially

identified as Brown’s alleged victim. Reports from that night tell only of an

unidentified woman “visibly injured” when police responded to a 911 call in the

Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Brown issued an apology and said he would seek

counseling, stating he was “sorry and saddened … over what transpired,” Brown

did not declare any remorse or give any details about the couple’s Feb. 8

confrontation.

But the Sun-Times’ Bill Zwecker has reported that

Rihanna’s family in her native Barbados, where the singer is recovering, is not

having accepting of the statement.

The singer told a longtime friend she was

”appalled” by the comments Brown made in that statement.

”All of us, including Rihanna, don’t understand how

he can say he’s sorry on the one hand, but still … does not admit any guilt,”

said the source, adding, “He should have expressed more contrition.”

The Los Angeles District Attorney is expected to

review the case before Brown’s March 5 court date and make a decision on formal

charges.