Badly treat a stringed instrument at early opener (7)

I believe the answer is:

violate

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'badly treat a stringed' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'instrument at early opener' is the wordplay.
'instrument' becomes 'viol' (viol is a kind of instrument).
'opener' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'early' is 'e'.
'viol'+'at'+'e'='VIOLATE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for violate that I've seen before include "Infringe; defile" , "Profane" , "Desecrate, despoil" , "Abuse" , "Treat sacred place with disrespect, or break vow" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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