ROME (AP) — Italy began its trial Monday in the brutal murder of a 22-year-old woman, a case that has shocked the country and sparked debate about the cultural roots of rising gender-based violence.
According to authorities, Giulia Cecchettin’s ex-boyfriend, Filippo Turetta, also 22, has confessed to fatally stabbing her on November 11, 2023, in Fosso, near Venice, just days before she was due to graduate as a biomedical engineer.
He is now charged with, among other things, manslaughter, aggravated by premeditation and kidnapping, and faces life imprisonment. A verdict is expected in early December, local media reported.
Prosecutors said Turetta couldn’t cope with Cecchettin breaking up with her and that he lured Cecchettin into going shopping and having dinner with him one last time before killing her.
The woman’s body, with more than 20 stab wounds, was found at the bottom of a ditch. Turetta fled to Germany, was caught and is now in prison awaiting the verdict of the court in Venice.
Cecchettin’s case made headlines in Italy and around the world, shedding new light on the problem of femicide, which is worryingly common on the Italian peninsula.
In 2023 alone, 120 women were murdered in Italy, and more than half of them died at the hands of their partner or ex-partner.
Cecchettin’s murder sparked outrage across the country due to the brutality of the killing and the age of both the alleged killer and the victim.
Turetta did not attend Monday’s hearing, but his attorney Giovanni Caruso told reporters he will likely appear in court in the future.
Several of Cecchettin’s relatives have asked to be added to the lawsuit as civil plaintiffs, and her family is seeking about 1 million euros ($1.1 million) in damages.
Cecchettin’s father, Gino, said Monday he was not seeking “revenge” and had every confidence in the court’s decision.
At his daughter’s funeral last December, he called on men to be “agents of change” in a culture that “devalues the lives of women” and urged them “not to turn away from signs of violence, even the slightest.”
Giulia’s sister Elena has repeatedly pointed to a cultural factor in her murder and other femicides in Italy, pointing to a patriarchal society in which male violence and control have long been accepted.
