It is news across England that a 13-year-old British boy was murdered in Portugal in the context of domestic violence. Several websites cover the case, which occurred in Tomar, on the morning of Tuesday, December 23rd. The victim is a teenager who was stabbed in the house where he lived with his mother, also British.
O The suspect in the crime is a Portuguese citizen, the woman’s ex-boyfriend, who died at the scene in an apparent suicide. According to the Judiciary Police (PJ), when authorities arrived at the house there was a strong odor of gas, which resulted, moments later, in an explosion. The suspicion is that the attacker caused the accident, which left an agent of the Republican National Guard (GNR) injured.
According to the PJ, which is investigating the crimes, the child’s mother managed to escape and call for help. The victim was “found by authorities with signs of having been restrained and assaulted, having since been taken to the nearest hospital unit”.
The Judiciary also states that the suspect had already served a sentence for murder. “The alleged attacker had already served a prison sentence for qualified homicide.” At the same time, the family was “flagged” as victims of domestic violence. “The family was flagged following domestic violence cases registered in 2022 and 2023.”
O The case moved the country and also England, with hundreds of messages of condolence. The death of the child and the attack on the mother add yet another situation of domestic violence in Portugal.
The basketball team where the teenager played shared a message of mourning on Facebook. “Today SCOCS BASKETBALL became poorer!!! Our athlete Alfie passed away today at the age of 13. He played his last game on Saturday, he played so well, it seemed like he knew it was his last game, but far from imagining… We want to tell you how much we love you and that you will always remain in our hearts! Rest in peace!”, the publication reads, accompanied by a photograph of the boy and the symbol of mourning.
“Emotionally destroying the victim”
Psychologist António Castanho, a specialist in gender-based violence, analyzed that this is an extreme case. “It’s not a family drama, nor an impulsive act: it’s the most extreme way of saying to the adult victim ‘if you’re not mine, I’ll destroy what you love most'”he stated in a reflection shared on LinkedIn.
According to the specialist, winner of the Fight Against Violence Award, the murder of children can be seen as revenge on the part of the aggressor. “Many homicides of children in the context of domestic violence occur as an extension of violence against the mother, in times of separation, custody conflict or revenge”.
There are studies that indicate this increased risk, with children being a target to “emotionally destroy the victim” in these cases. “There is one particularly disturbing finding: children who are not the biological children of the abuser (stepfathers, mother’s ex-partners, new partners) appear in several studies to be at greater risk of being killed in incidents of intimate partner violence. These are children who, apparently, were not the aggressor’s target, but who become his most effective means of emotionally destroying the victim.”
The expert argues that protection should cover the entire family. “The death of a child in these circumstances is neither a fatality nor a tragic and unpredictable accident. It is often the result of a known history of violence and coercive control that was not stopped in time, of ignored signs, of under-appreciated risk. Truly protecting victims of domestic violence requires always looking at the risk to their children, especially those who the aggressor insists would never harm them.”
amanda.lima@dn.pt