The killing of 25-year-old Penelope by her former partner in Igoumenitsa has again focused attention on violence against women in Greece. Fourteen femicides had already been recorded by the Greek section of the European Observatory on Femicide by late August.
A 25-year-old woman killed by her former partner in the northwestern Greek city of Igoumenitsa suffered seven to eight stab wounds to her back and two deep cuts to her neck, according to new forensic findings reported by Newsit.gr.
The victim, identified in Greek media as Penelope, was killed on the night of Sunday, September 20. Her 27-year-old former partner, from whom she had reportedly separated around a month earlier, has admitted killing her, according to Greek public broadcaster ERT.
The latest forensic findings underline the violence of the attack.
Newsit.gr reported on Tuesday that the examination found seven to eight stab wounds to Penelope's back, two cuts to her neck and a defensive injury to her left hand, along with other wounds. The suspect himself sustained injuries apparently inflicted during an attempt to take his own life. Two were described as deep, with damage to a lung.
The 27-year-old is being treated under guard at Filiates Hospital. According to ERT, an investigating magistrate and prosecutor visited him there on Monday evening. He faces charges including intentional homicide and domestic violence and has been given until Thursday to testify.
A Robbery Story that Unravelled
Investigators say the suspect initially attempted to present himself as another victim.
According to ERT, when police arrived he claimed that four masked assailants had attacked both him and Penelope. Officers identified inconsistencies in his account and, around three hours later, he reportedly admitted that he had killed her.
Newsit.gr reported that investigators are now examining the mobile phones of both the victim and the suspect in an effort to reconstruct their communications and determine what preceded their meeting. The 27-year-old has reportedly claimed that they met because of a financial dispute involving approximately €1,900.
Police have not established that claim as the motive, however, and the investigation remains under way.
According to Efimerida ton Syntakton, the suspect travelled from Athens to Igoumenitsa to meet Penelope and was carrying the knife allegedly used in the attack. The newspaper also reports that police have so far found no officially recorded complaint by Penelope against him for domestic violence.
The suspect had nevertheless come to the attention of police on several previous occasions for unrelated offences, the newspaper reported.
Fifteen Femicides in Less Than Nine Months
The Igoumenitsa case has brought renewed attention to the number of women killed in Greece this year.
The Greek section of the European Observatory on Femicide recorded 14 femicides between the beginning of 2026 and August 26. Its database recorded 21 during the whole of 2025, 20 in 2024 and 15 in 2023. Efimerida ton Syntaktonnow describes Penelope's killing as Greece's 15th femicide of 2026.
The Observatory's figures require some explanation. “Femicide” is not a separate criminal offence under Greek criminal law, and its research definition is broader than killings committed exclusively by current or former intimate partners. Some cases remain under judicial or forensic investigation. The figure should therefore be understood as the Observatory's monitoring of suspected or identified femicides rather than a separate official police crime category.
Its 2026 records nevertheless reveal killings involving partners, former partners and family members, as well as cases whose precise circumstances remain under investigation.
Among those recorded was 43-year-old Eleftheria in Heraklion, whose body was found in her car in April. In June, 45-year-old Antigoni, a police officer in Drama, was killed by her estranged husband, also a police officer, according to the Observatory.
Later that month, a 38-year-old British woman, Elizabeth “Lisa” Jane Ross, was found dead in Athens, her body placed inside a suitcase. The Observatory includes her death in its 2026 femicide database.
On August 26, 44-year-old Esma was killed in Dialampi, Rhodope, allegedly stabbed twice in the neck by her estranged husband in the presence of their children. According to the Observatory, she had experienced long-term physical and sexual abuse and was preparing to file for divorce. The suspect subsequently injured himself.
With Penelope's death in Igoumenitsa, the running total cited by Greek media has now reached 15.
The numbers also show that the problem is not confined to 2026. The Greek Observatory recorded 17 femicides in 2019, 19 in 2020, 31 in 2021, 27 in 2022, 15 in 2023, 20 in 2024 and 21 in 2025.
Behind this year's latest number is a 25-year-old woman who had moved to Igoumenitsa for work and, according to ERT, had been living there for around a year and a half and working as a biologist.
Her funeral is scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen in Metamorfosi.
Meanwhile, investigators continue examining the circumstances that brought Penelope and her former partner together on Sunday night — and what led to a meeting that ended with another young woman added to Greece's growing 2026 record of femicides.
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