Moroccan Woman’s Murder in Italy Sparks Outrage: Family Pleads for Body’s Return Amid Femicide Crisis

Hayat Fatimi’s family is in mourning. This 46-year-old Moroccan woman was stabbed to death by her ex-partner in the city of Foggia, Italy, just a few meters from her home. More than twenty days after her murder, her family has not been able to recover her body for repatriation to Morocco for the funeral. The delay in carrying out the mandatory autopsy is to blame. This amplifies the pain and psychological distress of the family and the Moroccan community in Italy. However, they can count on the support of Giulio De Santis, the person in charge of security and legality at the municipality of Foggia.

In a letter addressed to the public prosecutor’s office and the director of the university hospital, he asks them to speed up the autopsy. "Hayat asked the state for help, and yet she was brutally killed. The least we can do today is to allow her family to bid her a final farewell with dignity. The whole of society is awaiting the funeral to proclaim a day of national mourning and pay tribute to Hayat, unjustly torn from life," he said. A number of community members have made the same plea.

Since Hayat’s murder, her family and friends in Morocco have expressed their immense grief. They have also called for strengthening the protection of Moroccan migrant women and opening a societal debate on the recurrence of femicide.