Credit: Greek Reporter
Two more women have been added in Greece’s long list of femicide victims, bringing the total of women killed in the country this year to 13.
43-year-old Theodora Nastouli, a mother of three, was shot dead by her 30-year-old former partner on Monday in the center of Western Greece’s Agrinio town. The man, who confessed the killing to his sister over the phone while he was on the run, was arrested a day later. A gun loaded with nine bullets, a knife and another 21 bullets were found in his possession.
Nastouli named her killer before she succumbed to the deadly gunshot wound inflicted by her former partner.
How did the Femicides happen?
According to the police, the man was first arrested in September, when Nastouli filed charges against him after he had threatened her with a knife inside her house. The case was due to be heard in court four days after the woman was killed. The man had been ordered by judicial authorities to not approach the victim less than 50 meters and cease communication with her. Nastouli had refused to be issued a panic button, an application that is installed on smartphones and alerts the police when a woman is in danger, or move to a safe house.
After the couple had separated, Nastouli had allegedly moved on with her life, something her former partner, according to family members, refused to accept. The department handing domestic violence cases at Agrinio’s police department said that they were often in touch with Nastouli, who, they said believed she was not in danger and could convince him to leave her alone.
Hours later, a 41-year-old woman named Garyfallia succumbed to her wounds after she was viciously beaten by her 49-year-old partner on November 4th in the coastal city of Patra in eastern Peloponnese. The couple had briefly met at a hotel and her partner left the meeting first. As soon as Garyfallia came out afterwards, her partner, who had been waiting outside, punched her in the face and kicked her in the head.
The woman had since been hospitalized in the intensive care unit of an Athens’ hospital with severe head injuries. Doctors notified her family that Garyfallia was brain dead early Tuesday morning. In a statement, her family said that honoring her memory, they had decided to donate her organs “offering the possibility of life to other fellow humans.”
Femicides and Domestic Violence Surge
Femicides in Greece hit a new record in 2024, marking a 100 percent increase compared to 2023, when six femicides were recorded while cases of domestic violence are surging. According to Hellenic Police data, 15 cases of domestic violence are recorded in the country of 11 million every day. In the first five months of 2024, police responded to 2.157 cases of domestic violence and arrested 1.357 perpetrators. 2.000 women (out of 7.000 beneficiaries) have opted to install the panic button on their mobile phones.
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