The murder of a young Sicilian woman by daytime stalkers sent shockwaves throughout Italy. There, 11 women were killed since the beginning of the year.
Sarah Campanella, 22, a university student, was killed by an acquaintance in Messina, Sicily on Monday afternoon.
Witnesses told media he saw a man identified by prosecutors as 27-year-old Stefano Argencino walking to Ms Campanella and stabbing her on the street. She tried to escape and cried out, “Stop it, let me go, stop it.”
Passersby, who heard Ms Campanella’s scream, tried to chase after the attacker who managed to escape.
Ms Campanella died on her way to the hospital. A few hours later, Argencino was arrested in a nearby town.
Argentino’s lawyer, Rafaelle Leone, told Italian media on Wednesday that his client admitted the charges against him but had not explained why he attacked her.
“I can’t say if he regrets it. He’s been pretty closed,” Leone was quoted by ANSA news agency.
Messina prosecutor Antonio Damato said he had “insitive and repetitive” harassed Sarah Campanella since starting college two years ago. She was studying to become a biomedical engineer.
One of her friends had to intervene, complaining that Ms. Campanella hadn’t smiled at him, Damato said.
However, he added that Ms Campanella never went to police because she did not feel that Argentino’s attention was particularly “threatening or pathological.”
In a police detention order cited by Italian media, prosecutors said Argencino “had been plaguing the victims regularly, asking her to go out with her, get to know each other better, and refused to retreat even when she defeated him.”
D’Amato said that just before he was stabbed, Ms Campanella sent a message to a friend and said, “The man with the disease is following me.”
Writing on Facebook, Ms Campanella’s mother said her daughter said she thought “no” was enough. [Stefano Argentino] There was no point in her, they were not together, she wanted him to leave her alone, she wanted to live and dream and graduate.
“You need to talk and go to the police all the time! Help Sarah give her a voice,” she said.
In an emotional interview with Italian television, Campanella’s brother said unrequited love, caution and caution would never be the reason for “behavior like this.”
“There is no justification, and people like him don’t even deserve words.”
Julia Secketin’s father, who was 22 years old when she was killed by her ex-boyfriend, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that there is a “a whole generation of men who don’t accept rejection.”
“Love is not property, je is not love, and it’s a right to say “no.” In Sarah’s case, it didn’t even have a relationship,” Setchettin said.
“Women continue to be killed by people who do not accept rejection. We need to make extraordinary efforts, collective acts of rebellion against this culture of death,” said former pastor and lawmaker Mala Kafagna.
The issue of violence against women is perceived in Italy, where feminization is frequently reported by the media. In the last month alone, four women died at the hands of their partners and former partners.
On Wednesday, less than 48 hours after her death, Sarah Campanella’s murder was pushed out of headlines by news that the body of 22-year-old Ilaria Sula had been found in a Roman suitcase.
Last week, the university student was missing. According to Italian media, her ex-boyfriend confessed to her murder.
