After learning from the media about the case of the murder of a woman in the vicinity of Leskovac and the attempted murder of a woman in the vicinity of Žitište, in which the perpetrators were their current and former emotional partners, the Protector of Citizens launched separate own-initiative investigations to control the legality and regularity of work of the competent authorities.
Based on media reports that a man from the village of Jarsenovo near Leskovac was arrested on suspicion of murdering his common-law wife, the Protector of Citizens launched an investigation to control the work of the Leskovac City Centre for Social Work and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia.
The Protector of Citizens asked the Leskovac CSW to inform him within 15 days at the latest whether and on what basis these extramarital partners were on the records of the centre, whether there were reports of violence in the past period, whether and when those reports were considered at the Coordination and Cooperation Group, with special reference to the measures and actions that the Centre, in cooperation with other authorities, may have undertaken in order to provide adequate support and protection to the victim of partner violence. The Protector of Citizens requested from the MoI to inform him within the same period about the actions of the competent police administration in the specific case, with special reference to the activities carried out in this case and the cooperation achieved with the CSW, the prosecution and other authorities on earlier reports of partner violence, if any had been submitted.
On the occasion of the attempted murder of a woman in a village near Žitište, when her ex-common-law partner shot her in the chest with a rifle, after which she was operated on in the Zrenjanin hospital, the Protector of Citizens launched investigations to control the legality and regularity of work of the Centre for Social Work Žitište, Žitište Health Care Centre, the Provincial Secretariat for Social Policy, Demography and Gender Equality and the Ministry of Interior – Police Administration Zrenjanin.
The Protector of Citizens requested from the CSW Žitište to inform him within 15 days about all the circumstances of this case, whether there were previous reports of domestic violence and, if so, what measures did the Centre undertake, in cooperation with other competent authorities, in order to provide support to the victim of domestic violence and her children, to protect them, to sanction the perpetrator and to influence him not to commit violence again.
At the same time, the Protector of Citizens requested the Provincial Secretariat for Social Policy, Demography and Gender Equality to carry out expert supervision over the work of the CSW Zitište in this case, as well as to inform him of the measures the Secretariat undertook after learning about this case and the future measures it planned to take.
The Protector of Citizens asked the Zrenjanin police to inform him within 15 days whether there were previous reports of violence in this family and, if so, what measures did the police undertake, in cooperation with other competent authorities, in order to protect the victim of violence in the family and her children and sanction the perpetrator, as well as whether the perpetrator had a weapon in legal possession and what measures the police undertook after learning about this case.
The Protector of Citizens asked the Žitište Health Care Centre to inform him within the same deadline about whether it had knowledge of domestic violence and, if this is the case, what measures did the Žitište Health Care Centre undertake, in cooperation with other authorities, in order to provide support and protection to the victim and sanction the perpetrator.