Protestors demand responsibility be shouldered for Bernice Cassar femicide

At a protest starting in front of the police headquarters and ending in front of the law courts, people demand answers for system failures that killed Bernice Cassar

Protestors gathered outside the police headquarters to protest against institutional failures that allowed Bernice Cassar to be murdered (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)
Protestors gathered outside the police headquarters to protest against institutional failures that allowed Bernice Cassar to be murdered (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

People gathered in front of police headquarters and marched in protest to the law courts, demanding responsibility be shouldered for Bernice Cassar’s murder.

Scores of protestors called out the institutional failures that allowed the 40-year-old mother of two to be murdered by her husband, barely 24 hours after she filed a police report against him.

Cassar became Malta’s third femicide victim this year when she was shot by her husband, Roderick Cassar, while on her way to work. She died on the spot. Roderick Cassar was arrested after a 17-hour standoff and charged with femicide. He is pleading not guilty.

The protest was organised by Moviment Graffitti and supported by several organisations. Members of Bernice's family were also present.

Protestors shouted 'No more femicide', and 'We are tired and fed up', as they marched to the law courts.

The protest called for an end to violence against women (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)
The protest called for an end to violence against women (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)
Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday
Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday

Angele Deguara for Moviment Graffitti asked why the government, the police and the legal system allowed another woman to be murdered.

“Another woman has died. Another friend, another mother, another daughter, another sister. It could have been your mother, sister, daughter, or friend,” she said outside the law courts. “It could have been you.”

Angele Deguara
Angele Deguara

She pointed out that it was not enough that only one magistrate takes care of all the domestic violence cases.

Lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic, from the Women's Rights Foundation, said Cassar was betrayed by the system after doing all she could to save herself and her children. “How many times must we go onto the streets to call for change for those in power to realise we still have these problems?” she said.

Lara Dimitrijevic
Lara Dimitrijevic

Activist Andrea Dibben spoke of her fury over the 16-days of campaign against domestic violence, launched this week by the government. She said posters urging people to ‘reach out’ were useless, if the authorities fail to act when women do actually reach out for help.

Andrea Dibben
Andrea Dibben

Failed by the system: court delays and inadequate police response

Bernice Cassar had filed five reports of domestic violence and breach of a protection order in the months preceding her murder.

Questions have been raised as to why the police never arrested her husband when he failed to turn up for questioning at the Floriana police headquarters following a report filed by the woman.

She had been assaulted by her husband outside the Floriana health centre on 13 November. On the day, she 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. But when called in for questioning, her husband never turned up.

Bernice Cassar was Malta's third femicide victim this year (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)
Bernice Cassar was Malta's third femicide victim this year (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

Bernice then filed another report last Monday because her husband once again breached the protection order but 24 hours later she was killed in cold blood at the Corradino industrial estate where she worked.

Additionally, Bernice’s original domestic violence reports in May, including an instance when the man put a knife to her neck, were slated to be heard in court in November next year. An interim protection order was issued by the courts in July, only after her lawyer filed a request.

This latest femicide has angered women activists because Bernice Cassar had plucked up the courage to stand up and move away from her abusive situation but was failed by court delays and inadequate police response to her complaints.

READ ALSO: Only decisive action will stop violence against women - PN