A man, aged 49, was arrested in Leiria on July 1, suspected of domestic violence, it was announced on Saturday.
The Leiria District Command of the Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP) reported that they were alerted at approximately 00:15 by a 12-year-old child through emergency number 112.
The child reported that “an altercation was ongoing between his parents.”
On arrival, officers found “the aggressor already outside the residence,” awaiting their arrival. A search revealed a “kitchen knife concealed in his trouser pocket.”
Upon speaking with the victim, a 42-year-old woman, the PSP discovered that she had found “the suspect aggressive,” attempting to strangle her by grabbing her neck.
The noise reportedly awakened the couple’s children, one of whom is 21 years old and intervened between the parents. During this intervention, the suspect acquired a kitchen knife, threatening the son with it,” the statement from the police reads.
The suspect was arrested by Leiria Station officers at 04:18.
Facing a magistrate, he was subjected to a restraining order, alongside terms of identity and residence, with a ban on contacting the victim in any form, the PSP further disclosed.
In the previous year alone, the PSP detained 1,281 individuals for domestic violence—a 32% increase compared to the year before—and recorded 15,781 complaints, a 1.8% rise.
The PSP stresses the importance of victim and witness reports of domestic violence, noting that “all reported instances are immediately assessed for risk, allowing for prompt implementation of urgent security and protection measures tailored to each case.”
This security force states that domestic violence complaints may be lodged by anyone via the email “vi****************@*sp.pt” or in person at PSP stations.
Violent, physical, verbal, or psychological behaviors constitute the crime of domestic violence.
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Domestic violence is a public crime, and reporting it is a collective responsibility. If you need assistance or are aware of a domestic violence situation, take action:
On the Electronic Complaint Portal at queixaselectronicas.mai.gov.pt;
By phone, at 112;
At the nearest GNR or PSP station;
Via the App MAI112, exclusively for the deaf, at http://www.112.pt/Paginas/Home.aspx;
Via the SMS Segurança app for the deaf at www.gnr.pt/MVC_GNR/Home/SmsSeguranca.
Through the PSP email: “vi****************@*sp.pt“
