The incident happened at the couple's home in Malaga's Este district on the evening of 16 September. Their 12-year-old daughter called the emergency services and told them that her father was "strangling" his wife and that she was unresponsive.

The coordination centre mobilised the National Police and paramedics. The first police patrol and the ambulance met practically at the motorway exit for El Palo and travelled to the address together.

Upon arrival, they saw the garage door wide open, but the front door was locked and nobody was answering from inside.

Given the urgency of the situation, they began kicking the door in an attempt to force it open, but were unable to break through as it was reinforced. They even tried from the neighbour's house, but were unable to gain access to the property or see what was happening from outside.

Once the paramedic, however, thought of trying with his DNI, it took only a few seconds for the door to give way using the 'sliding' technique. The police entered first to secure the property.

They found the 35-year-old woman on the ground floor of the house, while her husband, 39, was on the upper floor. Both were unresponsive. The girls were hiding in the garden.

Efforts to save the man were in vain. He had taken his own life after allegedly attempting to strangle his wife. She, however, still showed signs of life, although she was in a very serious condition due to the time she had spent deprived of oxygen because of the cable that the attacker had apparently placed around her neck.

According to the same sources, neither of the two appears in the Viogén system for the prevention of gender-based violence. This means that there were no previous complaints concerning the couple.

Pending official confirmation from the Ministry of Equality, this tragic incident adds to the concerning list of gender-based murders in the province of Malaga so far this year.

The province accounts for seven of the eleven deaths in the region as of September 2026.

On 10 August, a 58-year-old man in San Pedro Alcántara fatally stabbed his partner, a 36-year-old transgender woman of Venezuelan origin, and confessed to the crime to a neighbour 24 hours later.

The province of Malaga recorded six gender-based murders in the first six months of 2026, matching the total number for the whole of 2025.

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