PADUA, 30 JUNE – Already warned by the police commissioner a month ago, a 74-year-old man was arrested by the Padua Police for having continued to threaten his partner, 25 years younger than him, and to try to make her withdraw the complaint she had presented to the judiciary. 30 days ago the man had prevented the woman from using her phone to ask for help, had threatened her with a kitchen knife, terrorizing her and forcing her to flee into the street. She was noticed there by some passers-by who asked the police for intervention. Yesterday the woman contacted the Flying Squad policeman who had collected the first testimony. In a strong state of agitation and in tears she told him that she did not want to proceed with the complaint. But the policeman understood that it was a call for help. After being contacted again by phone, the woman admitted that her partner was present in her house at the time, suggesting that she had been attacked again. While the officer remained on the phone with her, other colleagues went to the couple’s home and found the woman still in tears, with severe pain in her side and head, and a bruise on her arm. She was taken to Sant’Antonio Hospital where she was diagnosed with a fractured rib, with an initial prognosis of 21 days. The man, who admitted to the officers that he had jerked her and hit her on the shoulder, allegedly “for educational purposes”, was taken to the police station and subjected to the pre-precautionary measure of custody in prison. After the validation of the arrest, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, the judge for preliminary investigations confirmed his stay in the Padua prison.
