Italy: The murder of an Italian student, allegedly by her possessive ex-boyfriend, has shocked the nation and sparked a conversation on the issue of violence against women.
The body of Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old from a small town near Venice, was found dumped near a lake, with multiple stab wounds. She had been missing for a week after going out with her former partner Filippo Turetta.
The manhunt was front-page news in Italy for days. Cecchettin was just days away from receiving her degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Padua.
Cecchettin’s sister said the couple had broken up but had gone shopping together to buy a dress for her November 16 graduation ceremony before they disappeared.
CCTV footage presented by the public prosecutor in court showed the final moments of her life. Turetta, 22, can be seen beating his former partner in a car park close to her house.
She tried to escape, but prosecutors say he put duct tape on her mouth, forced her into his car, and drove to an industrial area, where he attacked her again. Turetta was arrested on a motorway in eastern Germany in a broken-down car late on Saturday, and is awaiting extradition.
