Yesterday the victim was simply described as a 40-year-old woman going through a divorce. Today, national tabloid Correio da Manhã provides devastating new details of the woman who was strangled to death in Charneca da Caparica, Almada, allegedly by her estranged husband.
Anabela Pereira’s life was marked by tragedy. Three years ago, a routine operation to remove varicose veins led to her losing her left leg below the knee. As a result of the medical error, she was awarded almost €300,000 in compensation, reports CM – and that is when the troubles in her life truly “became an inferno”.
According to CM, husband Augusto Borges stopped working altogether when his wife lost her leg and “demanded” more and more money after the indemnity came through.
The couple split-up and the house was put up for sale as Pereira was finding the stairs difficult to negotiate with her false leg.
It is the €200,000 sale that seems to have been at the root of the last argument which ended with Pereira dead and Borges allegedly telephoning police to say “I have killed my wife”.
CM claims neighbours affirm there were “frequent” arguments when the couple were together, and recently Borges had been seen “walking round” outside the house.
“It’s an absolute tragedy,” former Octávia Raposo told the paper. “Two children have lost their mother because of a man who lived off her.”
The killing brought the number of deaths due to domestic violence in Portugal this year to 22. Despite all the awareness campaigns and support groups, domestic violence has become the country’s “most worrying type of crime”.
