Brit arrested for murdering wife in Orihuela Costa

a 64-year-old British woman has allegedly been murdered by her husband in orihuela costa, according to pilar Bernabé, the Government delegate in the Valencian community. neighbours of the British couple in la Florida phoned the Guardia civil in the early hours of Sunday (26th march) morning after hearing shouting. When officers arrived at the property, they found the lifeless body of the woman inside with multiple stab wounds. her husband, a 69-yearold man was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital with a stab wound to the stomach. Guardia civil officers are investigating the events leading up to the tragedy. all indications are pointing to a case of gender violence as it was confirmed that the man has been listed in the VioGén database since 2019 for a previous assault on the murdered woman. however, pilarBernabé explained that at the time the victim didn’t proceed and so no charges were made against the man. as no judicial measures were launched, the case became inactive in 2020. currently, there have been 10 domestic violence murders in 2023 and 1,195 since 2003. in Spain, the prevalence of intimate partner violence is estimated to be 43 percent for emotional abuse, 8% for physical abuse and 12% for sexual abuse. Spanish embassies and consulates attended to 251 new cases of violence against Spanish women in 2022. in most cases, as in previous years, this was violence perpetrated by their partner or ex-partner. december 2022 Spain’s worst month for gender-based violence in 20 years, with 13 women being killed in the span of 28 days. at least six of the incidents happened after complaints had already been filed. Spain’s government has grown increasingly concerned as this was the highest number of genderbased murders since records began in 2003. at the time the country’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-marlaska, expressed his “deep frustration” at the “unusual and terrible proliferation” of such crimes and has ordered security forces to maximise the protection of the victims.