The body of 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin, an engineering student, was found days before her graduation ceremony in a ditch by a lake north of Venice.
Before the girl disappeared, roadside cameras are believed to have recorded her ex-partner Filippo Turetta stabbing her. Turetta was arrested after the car broke down in eastern Germany and was later extradited to Italy to stand trial.
Turetta landed at Venice airport around noon on Saturday and was due to be transferred to a prison in the northern city of Verona to face questions, Italian media reported.
The conflict stemmed from Turetta allegedly refusing to accept Cecchettin’s decision to end the relationship.
On Saturday, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, protests will be held across Italy to commemorate Cecchettin’s murder, adding to dozens of rallies and demonstrations already held in her memory in recent days.
In a report published in 2021 by the European Institute for Gender Equality, based on 2018 data, Italy ranked ninth out of 15 EU countries for the number of murders of women by partners or ex-partners and tenth for murders committed by relatives. In addition, Cristina Gamberi, a researcher at the University of Bologna, says such a case is “a script that we know very well,” pointing to the 106 women murdered in Italy this year, most of them killed by their partners or ex-partners.
On Wednesday, Italian lawmakers unanimously backed a series of measures aimed at increasing protection for women at risk. Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara also pledged a campaign to combat gender-based violence in schools.
