Malta’s domestic violence system failure: Bernice Cassar left at the mercy of her killer

Police never arrested the husband of Bernice Cassar, now suspected of having shot his wife twice in cold blood, when he failed to turn up for an interview at the Floriana police headquarters on 20 November.

Cassar had suffered an altercation with Roderick Cassar, 40, outside the Floriana health centre on Sunday, 13 November, where she had been receiving medical attention.

Details published by The Times shows that Bernice Cassar immediately fled the health centre to the nearby police headquarters, where she waited seven hours, unsuccessfully, to file her report. She returned the next day, and waited another two hours to file her report.

When police called the husband, he failed to turn up for the interview.

This is the system failure that betrayed Bernice Cassar when she was killed on Tuesday morning on her way to work.

And behind it, a history of domestic violence reports apparently failed to elicit any urgency: Cassar had filed a total of five reports prior to November, and left the marital home herself on Mother’s Day on 8 May with her children when her husband allegedly put a knife to her throat.

A month later, when her husband was admitted to hospital and Cassar brought the children to visit their day, the woman was again attacked by her husband, allegedly threatening to shoot her.

Her lawyer followed up on this threat with an application for a protection order that was repeatedly breached by Roderick Cassar.

Last Monday, on the eve of her murder, Bernice Cassar returned to the police to report a series of defamatory comments made against her by her husband on social media. The report is yet to be investigated, according to Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà.

But Facebook users on the group Women for Women have questioned how the police did not act on the night of the 20 November, when Roderick Cassar did not show up at the police depot for questioning. “Attempted strangulation, use of a weapon and incessant stalking, the warning signs were since May. He held a knife to her throat. That was a clear sign that required immediate action, not an 18-month wait for a trial,” one Facebook user said.

"Any training of domestic violence and femicide prevention clearly includes that in such cases, action has to be swift, immediate and effective. Everyone is very sorry for what happened to this woman but no amount of sorrow and contrition will bring her back, so being sorry is not enough,” concluded a WFW member.