The woman burnt to death in Bages had reported the man for gender-based violence

BarcelonaThe crime of a burnt woman discovered early this morning in Sant Vicenç de Castellet, in Bages, has all the signs of being a new sexist murder. The main hypothesis is that a man has ended the life of his partner and has set fire to her before committing suicide. The couple's two-year-old daughter, who was at the scene of the crime, has ended up injured by burns. The family lived in Terrassa. Three months ago, in April, the woman had denounced the alleged murderer for verbal violence. The trial was due to take place in October. The couple was also getting divorced, according to the court of violence against women in Terrassa, which carried both the complaint for violence against women and the civil proceedings.

The Mossos have found at three in the morning the body of the woman completely burned after receiving a notice of a fire in an area of bushes along the BV-1229 road. A few meters away, the police have located a car with the dead man, and inside the vehicle was also the daughter of the couple. All indications are that he has committed suicide inside the car with a belt from the vehicle. As for the girl, she has been treated by the emergency services for minor burns and has been transferred to the Hospital of Manresa for a medical examination. The Directorate General for Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA) has been left with the child until a family member is found to take care of her.

The place where they have located the burned woman and the car with the man and the child is the stretch of road BV-1229 that is just below the C-16 motorway, next to the Llobregat river. In this place there is an exit from the road that leads to a property. In the middle of the road they found the woman's body, in the middle of some bushes that have also been burned, and a few meters further the vehicle has been found. The forensic police of the Mossos have inspected the whole area this morning and have extracted a suitcase from the car.

The investigators must determine, among other things, if the man has committed suicide with the belt of the car and if he has killed his wife before setting fire to her. It is thought that he would have burned her by spraying her with a flammable liquid. Her body was in a very bad state because of the fire, which complicates the official identification and can also make the autopsy more difficult. According to sources in the Mossos, the identification of the woman may have to be done with DNA and this would entail that it would take time to have the results. The police insist that they keep all the hypotheses open.

A moment of silence in Terrassa

The City Council of Terrassa has led a minute of silence this noon in front of the consistory due to the crime. The Equality and Feminisms minister, Tània Verge, has moved to the city to participate in it. If the main hypothesis is confirmed, it would be the seventh gender-based murder this year in Catalonia and the eighth feminicide - this last count includes the case of a man who murdered his mother, and the rest had a couple or ex-partner relationship-. The minister has called on citizens to "not normalise" any situation of gender-based violence. The mayor of Terrassa, Jordi Ballart, also lamented the crime and added that "the priority is that the daughter is well". According to Ballart, "the girl will be cared for at all times".

The City Council of Sant Vicenç de Castellet - the events occurred on a stretch of road linking this municipality with the Pont de Vilomara - has expressed its dismay. Terrassa has decreed three days of official mourning. The consistory had already led on Thursday another moment of silence for the death of a four-year-old girl in a fire when she was alone at home, because her mother was working and the woman's partner had left the apartment and had locked the door.