Italian student's murder highlights struggle with domestic violence

Giulia Cecchettin and Filippo Turetta, both natives of the Veneto region, resided in the towns of Vigonovo and Torreglia, just a few miles apart. The pair met in Padua as they pursued studies in Biomedical Engineering.

Giulia and Filippo met up on November 11, merely days before Giulia's engineering dissertation defense. They ventured to a local shopping center and subsequently vanished.

When Giulia and Filippo failed to return, their families reported them missing. After nearly a week of tireless searching, police discovered the body of Giulia. The 22-year-old woman had been brutally murdered, sustaining twenty stab wounds. The autopsy revealed extensive signs of a violent struggle and that Giulia had attempted to fight off her attacker. The following day, Filippo was taken into custody in Leipzig, Germany.

The relationship between Giulia and Filippo, which had ended in August, bears mentioning. The 22-year-old man seemingly couldn't come to terms with the breakup. It's believed that he may have killed Giulia out of revenge and perhaps out of resentment towards her academic achievements.

The victim's sister expressed that she had never suspected Filippo of being violent, however, she admitted to being concerned about his jealous and possessive tendencies.

Filippo is routinely portrayed as a monster, but he's not one. A monster is an anomaly, a person excluded from society, for whom society bears no responsibility - she stated.

She further stressed that her sister's killer, while an extreme case, isn't an exception. Within Italian society, troubling behaviors such as jealousy, an inability to accept rejection, and both physical and emotional violence towards partners are often dismissed. These harmful behaviors are often minimized until they escalate to tragic degrees.

Data from the Italian Ministry of Interior reveals that, this year alone, 106 women in Italy have been murdered, 55 of these cases involve a partner, ex-partner, or family member. Giulia Cecchettin's horrific murder has sparked outrage nationwide, leading to demonstrations and protests across multiple cities.

Elisa Ercoli, director of Differenza Donna, an NGO combating gender-based violence, discussed the case with the BBC. Ercoli spoke out, calling this murder "the last straw", adding that women are being killed because their partners cannot tolerate their success and independence.

In Italy, one woman is killed every three days - she stated.