A 43-year-old mother of three was fatally shot to death in public on Monday by her estranged companion in the western Greece city of Agrinio, according to police, the latest instance of domestic violence in the country turning deadly.
According to reports, the woman was shot at almost point-blank range in her abdomen. She later passed away at a local hospital, despite being quickly transported by ambulance.
Authorities said the woman identified the shooter as her former companion shortly before being transported to a nearby hospital. The suspect is not the father of the victim’s children, reports stated.
The suspect’s vehicle was later located hours later.
The man identified as the perpetrator is 30-years-old and was accused of assaulting the woman last September. A court case involving domestic violence charges against him, in fact, was on a court docket for Friday.
The murder suspect had been arrested at the time, with a court date set and with three firearms in his possession confiscated.
A restraining order was also issued preventing him from contacting or coming near Monday’s victim.
Greece’s public order minister last April presented a set of new guidelines to improve police management and responses to incidents of domestic violence, in the wake of the murder of a 28-year-old woman by her partner days earlier outside a police precinct in northwest Athens. The victim was stabbed to death after failing to secure police protection at the scene.
Public opinion in the east Mediterranean country has been shocked over the past few years by a series of particularly brutal instances of past and present domestic partners murdering their companions, mostly husbands or boyfriends killing spouses or girlfriends, leading to heightened media scrutiny, social media attention and measures by authorities aimed to prevent such instances, as well as a stiffening of an overly lenient criminal code.
