THESALONIKI, Greece (AP) – A 55-year-old woman has died in Greece after her husband allegedly doused her with petrol and set her on fire, the latest in a series of murders that have sparked concerns about violence against women. I have restarted the debate.
State hospital officials said on Monday that the woman, whose name has not been released, died in intensive care three days after an attack on her home in the town of Komotini. Her husband, 62, is already in police custody and could be charged with murder.
In 2021, at least 17 murders of women by husbands or partners were recorded in Greece. These include the murder of 20-year-old Greek-British student Caroline Crouch last year. Her husband, Greek helicopter pilot Babis Anagnostopoulos, told police he was killed in a home invasion, but was later arrested for murder and sentenced to life in prison earlier this year.
The body of a 42-year-old Romanian woman was found buried in cement in southern Greece a year ago. His partner was later arrested in the Netherlands. He was found hanging in a prison cell weeks after he was extradited to Greece.
The main left-wing opposition party, Siriza, supports a legislative amendment that would make homicide a special offense that could meet stricter probation conditions, but the government says no changes to the existing legal framework are needed. Is.
Centre-right Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday, “I accept the term feminism because it defines the way these crimes are committed.”
“But I don’t think it should be given special legal status. We have a particularly strict legal framework for murder. I cannot accept that the murder of a woman is more heinous than the murder of a child or the murder of an elderly person.”
Mitsotakis said she strongly supports providing additional safeguards to protect women from domestic violence, including an extensive network of shelters and additional police training.
