She had tried to disappear from his radar, blocking phone numbers and social media profiles. She had changed her daily routines, temporarily left her home and had security cameras installed. She had even bought two canisters of pepper spray. According to the Rimini Prosecutor’s Office, this was the reality faced by a woman from Riccione in the weeks following her break-up with her former partner.
The man, a 47-year-old originally from Andria, is charged with stalking and damage to property. He has been held in custody in Rimini since 12 July, and the court has now ordered an expedited trial: the first hearing before the single-judge court is set for 21 October.
The relationship had ended in mid-May. From that point on, according to investigators’ reconstruction, the man allegedly began making relentless attempts to re-establish contact. He is said to have called her repeatedly — as many as seven or eight times a day — and created new social media accounts, which the woman would progressively block.
Unable to reach her directly, the 47-year-old allegedly began contacting her parents as well. It was on her mother’s phone that one of the most disturbing messages cited in the case files reportedly appeared: «The acid is ready».
The allegations extend beyond phone calls and social media. The man is accused of repeatedly showing up at places frequented by his ex-partner, and, according to the prosecution, of entering the courtyard behind her home and setting up a makeshift sleeping area there. One evening in June, he allegedly hurled insults at the woman from outside her house and threatened to destroy her car.
Her vehicle also appears to have been targeted: the side mirror was reportedly damaged on two separate occasions. Finally, in early July, the 47-year-old is said to have entered the courtyard of the building where his ex-partner had taken refuge at her mother’s home, before being spotted and driven away.
A series of episodes that allegedly left the woman, a mother of two young children, fearing for her own safety and that of her children. The Prosecutor’s Office has requested that the defendant be sent directly to trial — a request granted by preliminary investigations judge Raffaele Deflorio.
