A 48-year-old woman died from her
injuries at a Palermo burns unit on Monday after being doused
with flammable liquid and set on fire by her partner during the
night between Friday and Saturday.
When Anna Elisa Fontana, from the Sicilian island of
Pantelleria, was admitted to hospital with 70% burns on Saturday
doctors said her condition was "desperate".
Her partner Onofrio Bronzolino, aged 52, also suffered burns in
the incident and is receiving hospital treatment under police
surveillance.
Italy has been grappling with a long string of femicides and
other acts of gender-based violence with much soul-searching
about what needs to be done.
On Friday the Council of Europe said it was worried about
Italy's figures regarding violence against women.
The human rights body's Committee of Ministers said that it
"notes with concern" that the data provided by Rome "show a
persistently high percentage of domestic and sexual violence
proceedings shelved at the preliminary investigation stage, the
limited use of protection orders and a significant rate of
violations of them".
It committee expressed its disquiet after reviewing the measures
taken by Italy to resolve the problems that led the European
Court of Human Rights to condemn it several times due to its
"ineffective response" to complaints made by women victims of
violence.
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