Her partner at the time, the Calabrian nurse Antonio De Pace, confessed to strangling her in the house where they lived in Furci Siculo
It has caused intense reactions from the entire political spectrum decision of the Supreme Court of Cassation of Italy to overturn the life sentence imposed on a man who was convicted of murdering his partner during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, because the first-instance decision did not take into account mitigating factors linked to pandemic.
The case concerns the murder of Lorena Quarada, a 27-year-old medical student from the city of Favara in the province of Agrigento, in March 2020.
Her partner, the then 28-year-old Calabrian nurse Antonio De Pace, confessed that he strangled her in the house where they lived in Furchi Sikulo in the province of Messina.
In explaining its decision, the Supreme Court announced that the judges who imposed the life sentence “did not consider whether the specific nature of the situation, the period of the pandemic and the difficulty of dealing with it, constitute factors affecting the extent of criminal responsibility ».
Therefore, the Supreme Court remanded the case back to the lower court for reconsideration.
The victim was about to graduate and had been experiencing symptoms such as a dry throat for weeks. The perpetrator of the femicide, convinced that his partner had contracted the virus, had decided to return to his relatives in Calabria.
Quaranda begged him not to leave, to stay with her and bring her medicine, but he strangled her after an argument and then cut his own veins in an attempt to kill himself before notifying the police.
Elisabetta Lancelotta, an MP from Prime Minister Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, was among those politicians who expressed surprise at the decision.
“Sentences should be respected, but it is possible that someone will not agree with them, such as the decision of the Court of Cassation to cancel the life sentence imposed on the killer of Lorena Quarada because he was experiencing stress due to the pandemic.
“Covid cannot and should not become a mitigating factor, especially in femicide cases. During the pandemic we have seen a marked increase in domestic violence resulting in tragedies, and today’s violence risks setting a dangerous precedent. Violence against women is not may have mitigating factors, out of respect for the victims and their loved ones,” Lancelotta said
Source :Skai
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