Woman Beaten to Death with Rock in Paupisi, Husband on the Run

Paupisi: A woman was beaten to death with a rock in a street in Paupisi, a town in the southern province of Benevento, and her husband is the prime suspect after taking flight, sources said on Tuesday.

According to Ansa News Agency, the latest victim in an alarming series of femicides in Italy was named as Elisa Polcino, 49. A major manhunt has been launched for her husband, Salvatore Ocone.

Italy has a problem with gender-based violence. In July, the Senate unanimously approved a bill making femicide a specific felony in Italian criminal law. The bill punishes with life imprisonment anyone who causes the death of a woman “with acts of discrimination or hatred towards the victim because she is a woman, or if the criminal act is aimed at repressing the exercise of the rights, freedoms or personality of the woman.”

The bill also sets new conditions for prison incentives and privileges for femicide convicts and strengthens obligations for educational and awareness initiatives to combat gender-based violence.
The bill has moved to the Lower House for final approval.