The Ertzaintza has detained a 45-year-old man on Friday for his alleged involvement in the violent death of his 44-year-old partner, which occurred on Wednesday in a home in Basauri (Bizkaia) and is being investigated as gender-based violence. It was initially believed the victim had suffered an indisposition, but forensic analysis determined violent causes. The detainee has prior police records for gender violence.
The 44-year-old Spanish woman was found dead on Wednesday morning in her home in Basauri, a town in Bizkaia near Bilbao. Medical services responded to a reported indisposition but were unable to save her life.
Hours later, forensic analysis revealed it was a violent death. The Ertzaintza launched an investigation that led on Friday to the detention of the victim's partner, a 45-year-old Spanish man accused of homicide in the context of gender-based violence. Sources from the Department of Security confirmed the detainee had prior records for gender violence, though they did not specify if they involved the deceased.
Basauri's mayor, Asier Iragorri (PNV), voiced his "strongest condemnation and repulsion" for the incident and called to act "with determination from all spheres to eradicate" gender-based violence. "It is unsustainable and very worrying that there are daily news of macho assaults or murders," he stated, announcing a repulsion rally.
Emakunde, the Basque Women's Institute, and the Bizkaia Provincial Council also condemned the alleged murder. The latter noted that 39 women have been killed in Bizkaia due to gender-based violence since 2004. Nationally, 14 women have been victims so far this year and 1,357 since 2003.
