Tenerife is mourning the death of a 46-year-old mother who was brutally murdered by her ex-partner on Sunday evening after he stabbed her death with a large kitchen knife in the middle of the street, and it has come to light that he was arrested in December for harassment and threatening her, but let free.
Police have revealed that the 44-year-old Moroccan was detained on December 29th for ‘coercion’ of the victim, but the next day she chose not to press charges or didn’t want to testify in the Arona investigative court that handled the case, so the judge had no choice but to dismiss the case and release him.
Because of this, the court did not impose any protection order or precautionary measures for 46-year-old Hayat, who also is Moroccan, as she withdrew the measures that were taken against her ex-husband and renounced any criminal or civil action that could correspond to him, according to the Canary Islands Superior Court of Justice (TSJC).
Hayat became the first victim of sexist violence in Tenerife on Sunday in 2023 after she was killed outside the home she shared with her ex and her children at number 18 Calle José de Espronceda in Armeñime, which is in the municipality of Adeje in the south of Tenerife.
He also caused injuries to the hand of one of the victim's two sons (from a previous relationship) when he tried to defend her, while the two youngest children, ages 5 and 6 (the result of the couple’s marriage), were asleep inside the house.
A local resident, Ramón Torres, who witnessed the attack, has given an account of the incident to the press saying that a neighbour managed to stop the attacker when he tried to flee the scene of the crime, and held him until the police came and handcuffed him.
Paramedics tried to treat Hayat's injuries, who was still breathing but could do nothing to save her life as her wounds were very deep.
Ramon recounts: “I was asleep when I was woken around midnight by shouting and screaming in the street which is something strange in such a quiet neighbourhood. I quickly went outside and saw a woman lying on the pavement. We called the police and put a pillow under her head to try and help her. Others tried to cover her wounds with toilet paper and towels, but she was already in very bad shape, with very deep stab wounds. Even though the ambulance arrived very quickly, nothing could be done. It has been something terrible, a savage crime,” he said, still affected by what he experienced hours before.
According to neighbours, Hayat had two children from a previous marriage, aged 14 and 15, and two aged five and six with her alleged murderer. She had been living in Adeje for several years and Armeñime for more than a year. She worked as a chambermaid in a hotel in Playa Paraíso, very close to her home, and did not have any direct relatives in Tenerife.
Adeje town hall held a minute's silence yesterday (Monday) at midday in Hayat’s honour, and there is a vigil at 7pm this evening in the plaza in Armeñime for local residents to pay their respects.
