She reported several times that her husband beat her, even in front of the children.
The last time she contacted the police was in January - in March she was killed in the Bar village of Murići, in her parents' house where she tried to find salvation.
N. LJ. (37) shot the wife of V. Lj, who was eleven years younger.
Due to the suspicion of the NGO Center for Women's Rights that the state did not adequately protect the deceased woman from abusers, the Council for Civil Control of the Police in mid-October asked the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office to additionally check the actions of the police, and especially the Bar Prosecutor's Office.
The director of the Center, Maja Raičević, said that she expects the VDT to "completely impartial and professionally" investigate the responsibility of the police officers and the prosecutor's office from Bar, whose jurisdiction was the victim's reports, and to initiate criminal proceedings, if it is determined that they "disobeyed their authority ".
"The state is responsible because it did not protect the victim in accordance with the law and international standards that bind it. The fact is that the institutions do not do enough to provide physical protection for victims of violence, nor do they provide other types of protection that they are required by law to offer to victims. If the death of this young woman is the result of inadequate actions of the institutions whose protection she sought, then all competent officials who had information that she suffered violence, and who did not take measures to protect her, must be held accountable," she told "Vijesti".
The Council announced that they had a dilemma as to whether all official measures and actions were undertaken, which could have contributed to the efficient application of the law and the timely protection of the victim from "prolonged domestic violence", which ended in murder despite the fact that the woman regularly reported the violence .
The Police Directorate replied to the Council that the CB Bar officers took "all official measures in accordance with the laws on police powers in consultation with the competent prosecution in the Bar".
"V. LJ. was reported by N. LJ in December last year. that after a short verbal argument he hit her 'with a clenched fist, fist and legs in the area of the body...' On the same day, he also hit her in the area of the face with his fist...
V. LJ. was reported in January of this year by his wife N. LJ. that in the family home, in front of three minor children, he hit her on the head and body with his fists, saying insulting words to her," the Police Administration informed the Council.
They claim that the deceased woman, who lived in Ostros, was sent to the emergency room in Bar both times, where she received medical attention. Then, as they clarified, against N. LJ. filed a criminal report due to suspicion that he committed a criminal offense - violence in the family or family community.
Raičević warned that someone may suffer from domestic violence again, if the case of the woman from Ostros, "like many others so far, remains uninvestigated and unpunished".
Raičević: The police must also sanction threats
Raičević assessed that practice shows that the police do not perform a risk assessment and often minimize the victim's sense of danger.
"It often happens that police officers tell women that they can't do anything just based on threats, until the suspect starts putting the threats into action. This is not in accordance with the law, because they know very well that someone's threats to kill, or cause bodily harm, in themselves constitute a misdemeanor, or a criminal offense. When there are physical injuries, then the situation is even more urgent, so they have the possibility to keep the abuser in the police and suggest to the prosecutor that he be detained, which they usually do not do," she said.
Zeković: Establish a national day of remembrance for the victims
The President of the Council for Civil Control of the Police, Aleksandar Saša Zeković, announced that they had informed "a number of relevant addresses" of the conclusion, including NGOs, which were recommended to consider the possibility of cultivating the memory of "this case and the victim itself, through the establishment of a national day of remembrance for victims of violence in family".
This would further improve professional and social attention in combating domestic violence, he pointed out.
"The council recognized the facts that the victim was a member of the minority, that she lived in a rural area and in an environment where traditionalist beliefs are still strong, and that, in addition to all that, she bravely and consistently used the legal possibilities and undertook everything that was to her to protect herself and request adequate protection from violence", the Council announced to "Vijesta".
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