A family massacre was narrowly avoided last night in Castelnuovo Rangone , in the province of Modena, where a domestic argument risked having even more serious consequences: a 23-year-old man stabbed his father, mother and fifteen-year-old sister.
All three are hospitalized: the 57-year-old man at Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, and the 42-year-old woman and the girl at Baggiovara Hospital in Modena, with a critical prognosis. Fortunately, none of their lives are in danger.
The boy, who appears to have mental health problems and drug addiction , was arrested by the Carabinieri. Emergency services arrived around 10 p.m. after a neighbor raised the alarm.
The family, long-respected by social services, is originally from Sri Lanka, has lived in Italy for about twenty years, and is the caretaker of Villa Zanasi. Several patrols were deployed last night, and the road in front of the building on Via Biondo where they live was closed for a long time.
Neighbors have reported other arguments in the past . "This is a family tragedy that has shaken our community, which stands united behind the victims of this near-tragedy," said Castelnuovo Mayor Massimo Paradisi. "Fortunately, no one's life is in danger. The boy was still at home when the Carabinieri arrived and was immediately arrested," he confirmed.
The 23-year-old will face charges of attempted aggravated murder of his father and mother, and aggravated assault (due to family relationship) against his younger sister. He repeatedly attacked them: his father suffered wounds to the abdomen and back, his mother to the neck and abdomen, while his sister suffered less serious injuries to the back and hand. Another child was also involved, but he was not at home. The attacker was apprehended by Carabinieri from Sassuolo and Castelnuovo and taken to prison. The switchblade he used and the apartment were seized. The Prosecutor's Office has requested validation of the arrest: a hearing will be held in prison on Monday at 9:00 a.m. before investigating judge Andrea Scarpa. The motive remains unclear.
This incident brings to mind another family tragedy in nearby Sassuolo. On November 17, 2021, five people died when 38-year-old Tunisian man Nabil Dhahri stabbed his ex-partner Elisa Mulas, a 43-year-old of Sardinian origin, to death; his two sons, Ismaele and Sami, aged five and two, and his mother-in-law Simonetta Fontana, aged 63, before killing himself. Elisa's other daughter, an 11-year-old from a previous relationship who was at school during the crime, survived. Her great-grandfather, in his nineties, also survived, but he died a few days later.
(Unioneonline)
