A 45-year-old man has been arrested for the murder of his wife, 56. He is alleged to have pushed her out the window of their home in Valladolid.
Sources indicate the incident took place at around 2.20am last Monday. Investigating officers interviewed nearby neighbours, some of whom reported that the couple had been arguing loudly around the time of the incident. As soon as officers entered the couple’s home, they arrested the man for gender violence. However, other neighbours insisted that when they went to their own windows to investigate the argument, they saw the man trying to hold his wife to prevent her from falling out of the window of the third floor apartment shared by the couple. Some even ran to place mattresses on the ground to try to cushion her fall should the inevitable happen. Unfortunately, the woman did fall and died as a result of her injuries.
The deputy government delegate in the region, Emilio Álvarez, said that the police report of the man’s arrest noted that he was taken in to custody due to ‘signs of gender violence’ but added that “it would have been more correct to indicate that he had been arrested for possible murder.”
Álvarez claimed that, according to statements from neighbours, fights and arguments were frequent between the couple. He also revealed that the woman’s children from a previous relationship had in the past reported their mother’s partner for violence. The complaint, however, was dismissed. The woman herself had never reported her partner for domestic violence and as such was not registered on the police’s VioGEN system, a database of domestic abuse victims which allows the authorities to monitor and protect those at risk.
Domestic violence during lockdown
Victims of domestic abuse are particularly vulnerable at this time, being forced to stay at home with their abuser 24 hours a day. Officials are keen to stress that throughout the state of alarm, the 016 domestic abuse emergency helpline is fully operational and appeal to all citizens to report any suspected domestic abuse they witness.
016 is available in 52 languages and is open for calls 24 hours a day. Online, the service can be accessed by emailing 016-online@mscbs.es. Domestic violence victims can also access an instant psychological support service that has been made available through WhatsApp via the following numbers: 682916136 and 682508507.
If you are in an emergency situation as a result of domestic violence, you should call 112, 091 (National Police) or 062 (Guardia Civil) and, in the event of not being able to make a call, you can use the ALERTCOPS application, which sends live Alerts the security forces with location data. If you are in a situation where you feel you might be at risk of domestic abuse, you can download the ALERTCOPS app now, and have it saved on your phone in case you might need it in the future.
Rise in violence at home
Statistics indicate that calls to the 016 domestic violence emergency number have risen by 18% since the lockdown was imposed. The figures, released earlier this month by the Ministry of Equality, indicate that calls rose significantly in the second half of March (when the country was first on lockdown) compared with the same two weeks in February.
Experts have reiterated their fear that gender violence will continue to increase at this time, but also warn of the risk that children are facing. Psychologists from the Anar Foundation, which manages a helpline for minors, warns of the vulnerability of children. Benjamín Ballesteros, Director of the Anar Foundation, revealed that previously, children could call the helpline confidentially but now they are not getting the privacy at home to do so. Some children however, are getting through to seek help from the Anar Foundation. Ballesteros revealed that in just one week, they dealt with 195 serious calls. Around 30% of these came from children with psychological, anxiety or self-esteem problems while 40% of the calls were children suffering violence or abuse.
The Anar Foundation can be contacted online at https://www.anar.org/ and offers a chat and email service (in Spanish) for children and teenagers who cannot make a call to ask for help.
Calls to the 016 helpline are free and do not leave a trace on the phonebill – however, they do need to be deleted from the call list of the device itself if the caller wants to hide the fact that they have sought help.