Tom Ewart Smith
A SPANISH woman was denied a restraining order against her ‘abusive’ ex-partner just days before he allegedly killed her, it has emerged.
Catalina, 48, was found murdered inside her Costa del Sol property on Sunday morning after it was allegedly set alight by her Nigerian husband, Augustine, from whom she had recently separated.
At 5.25am, emergency services received a call from Augustine, reporting a fire at a house on 27 Calle Alamos in Benalmadena.
When local police arrived, Augustine was outside, while Catalina and the couple’s three children (aged 11, nine, and seven) were still inside.
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Officers managed to rescue the children but were unable to save Catalina, whose body was discovered after the flames were extinguished.
One of the children told police that Augustine was responsible for the fire, and the eldest child reportedly tried to intervene but was attacked by his father.
Catalina also had a 19-year-old son from a previous relationship.
She and Augustine had been together for 13 years and lived in the house with her mother. However, they had separated shortly before her death.
On January 20, Catalina reported Augustine, 42, for raising his hand and threatening her, claiming that he had also hit her in the past.
As a result, she was placed in Spain’s VioGen system, which monitors domestic violence cases.
Her case was classified as ‘medium risk’, meaning police did not consider her to be in immediate danger.
Due to this assessment, when Catalina requested a restraining order just over a week ago, the court denied it, citing contradictions in her statement and a lack of evidence of an objective threat.
