More details are emerging about the killing of a 44-year-old woman by her 53-year-old estranged husband in a village in Rodopi, northeastern Greece.
According to reports, the woman was working on the island of Thasos for the summer but had taken a day off and returned to the family home in the village of Dialampi on Wednesday to celebrate the birthday of her 16-year-old daughter, one of the couple’s three children. The 53-year-old then attacked her, stabbing her twice in the neck and body.
Reports indicate she had also planned to formally file for divorce the following day before returning to the island for work.
The killing reportedly took place in front of the couple’s children. Reports indicate that it was their daughter who called the police.
53-year-old hospitalized in surgical ward
According to a statement from the Hellenic Police, after stabbing his wife, the 53-year-old then injured himself. According to information from the report, the suspect used the same weapon to inflict an injury to his chest and also ingested a corrosive substance (potentially diesel fuel) in an apparent suicide attempt. Police officers who rushed to the scene arrested him, while two knives were seized from the location.
The 53-year-old is now being treated in the surgical ward of the Sismanogleio General Hospital in Komotini under police guard.
A case has been filed against the perpetrator by the Komotini Department for the Prosecution and Investigation of Crimes on charges of intentional homicide, domestic violence and violating Greece’s weapons law.
Local community in shock
The local community in the village of Dialampi is in shock. Thanasis Krinakís, president of the Iasmos community, told ThessPost.gr that the family appeared to be a “normal family” that had never caused concern in the village.
“They were a normal family. They had lived in the village for many years, the house belonged to them, they worked their fields, the children went to school, and they never caused any trouble. Now, what was happening inside their home, we do not know, even though we are neighbors.”
The couple, who were originally from Albania, had been separated for several years. The woman had previously made repeated complaints against her husband. The woman had reportedly also sought hospitalization for the man in the past, which ultimately did not happen. The 53-year-old had also been arrested in 2022 in Heraklion, Crete, under the fast-track procedure, over domestic threats against the victim. No new incidents of domestic violence had reportedly been recorded over the past three years, as the 53-year-old was under psychiatric care and receiving medication.
