On September 3, Gigi Cherchi, a 67-year-old farmer, brother of Giuseppe and Salvatore, killed in 1998, was killed: the shadow of the Noragugume feud continued. In October it was the turn of Alessio Madeddu from Teulada , known for having participated in the "4 restaurants" show: his killer had acted out of jealousy.
These are just two of the 17 voluntary homicides committed in Sardinia in 2021. A total that takes the island to the top of the national ranking for bloodshed. Not in absolute terms (and also in this case the positioning is disturbing), but in relation to the population. The statistics bring only Valle D'Aosta higher, but in this case the data is "polluted" by the small number of residents: there are just over 125 thousand and only two victims in a year.
The homicide rate in the small region was 1.62 per 100,000 inhabitants. On the island it was 1.07. All the others have a lower average. And by a lot. In third place in the dismal ranking is Campania: the rate is 0.80 with a total of 45 voluntary homicides (but out of over 5.5 million inhabitants).
The numbers come from the latest Istat elaboration based on the reports of the Central Directorate of the Criminal Police of the Ministry of the Interior.
In Sardinia, therefore, people kill more than in the rest of Italy. Two were the victims of feminicide. And no man was killed by his partner. On the other hand, this is the trend throughout Italy: only 7 men were killed in one year by their partner or ex-partner. On the other hand, there were 74 women victims. On the island in 2021 there was only one crime in the family, among relatives.
The ministerial database also reports another figure, indicative of the island's criminal dynamics: seven homicides have remained without perpetrator. The dead are all men. The killers still don't have a name.