Four police officers have been dismissed following the fatal stabbing of a woman outside an Athens police precinct where she had just requested protection from a harassing ex-boyfriend.
The 28-year-old’s murder has triggered new calls by left-wing opposition parties for femicide — the killing of women or girls with a gender-related motivation — to be recognized as a distinct term in Greece’s criminal code.
Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis has promised a “full, in-depth” investigation of Monday’s killing that occurred a few dozen yards from the Aghioi Anargyroi police station.
Wednesday’s dismissals include duty officers at the police station at the time of the fatal stabbing as well as the female officer handling the woman’s call on an emergency hotline, pleading for urgent assistance as her knife-wielding ex-boyfriend moved to attack her.
The victim’s 39-year-old former partner was arrested and was being treated under police guard in a psychiatric hospital after allegedly intentionally stabbing himself following the attack.
“What matters now is to fully investigate the incident … and see what the police did or didn’t do,” Chrisochoidis told state ERT television. “This must be done in a very few days, hours even.”