ΑΤΗΕΝS — The killing of a 50-year-old Georgian woman in a Thessaloniki suburb allegedly by her partner was the ninth murder in Greece this year of a partner or wife as femicide has risen, alarming activists and women.

Police arrested her partner, also a Georgian, the website Thestival.gr reporting that neighbors said they heard a loud argument between the couple, the woman screaming, “Please do not kill me!”

That was accompanied by sounds of her being beaten, which led to her death, no report on whether anyone who heard what was going on tried to intervene, the man fleeing ahead of the police coming, but able to track him down later.

The 48-year-old man and his partner lived in the Thessaloniki suburb of Analipsi. Her body, said Kathimerini, was found lying in a pool of blood by police with reports she had injuries all over her body, including several stab wounds.

Witnesses later reportedly said they saw the suspect running away from the apartment building with his clothes and hands covered in blood moments after hearing the woman d begging for her life.

Neighbors said that loud and possibly violent arguments were a frequent occurrence between the couple but it wasn't reported whether they had complained to the police when it was happening.

Greek police data revealed that in the first 15 days of August, there 554 complaints of domestic violence incidents nationwide with 332 people arrested for domestic violence.  The remaining cases went to trial with no report whether anyone was convicted or punished. 

There wasn't any analysis reported why the phenomenon is increasing, which is happening as COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures have eased after the population was often confined in 2020 as the Coronavirus spread.