Police focus on murdered woman’s acquaintances

POLICE are focusing their investigation on the murder of 36-year-old Daniella Rosca, the Moldovan woman who was found dead in her flat on Sunday, on individuals from her professional circle, police spokesman Andreas Angelides said on Tuesday.

No arrests have yet been made.

Rosca, who worked as a beautician in Larnaca, appeared to have had a very broad list of acquaintances.

Police believe the murdered woman knew the victim because no signs of a break-in were found at the crime scene.

She was found tied up in the bedroom of her third-floor flat in the McKenzie area in Larnaca by two friends who had been unable to contact her over the weekend.

State pathologists concluded that she died from asphyxiation due to inhaling blood and a head wound, and placed her death 12 hours prior to being discovered.

Commissioner for gender equality Iosifina Antoniou condemned Rosca’s murder on Tuesday as an incident of gender violence.

In a statement, Antoniou expressed her grief and shock at the brutal beating which resulted in the death of the Moldovan woman.

“The phenomenon of gender violence, which is affecting modern societies,” Antoniou said, “is mainly caused by the historically unequal power relations between men and women and stereotypes that discriminate against women.”

One in five women experiences physical violence at least once during her adult life, she said quoting European research.

“After the signing of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence by the Republic of Cyprus on 16 June 2015 all concerned services, bodies, departments and also civil society should intensify their efforts and work collectively, aiming at combating the phenomenon of violence against women,” she added.