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Pregnant Therese had finally reported the boyfriend to the police for assault – on the same day that she had an ultrasound examination, he murdered her.
Therese is one of at least 13 women who have been killed in the last ten years when they were pregnant or new mothers.
– She longed so much to meet her baby, says her mother.
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In retrospect, the midwife who performed the ultrasound said that she noticed in both 23-year-old Therese and her mother that something was not right.
But it’s nothing she asks anything about then, when they get to see the little baby in her belly, 20 weeks old, the size of a bell pepper, for the first time.
It’s August 12, 2015, and 23-year-old Therese is happy to see her baby frolicking inside. She gets black and white pictures printed.
– Therese was so proud and happy. She really longed for her baby. She thought it was going to be a girl, it looked like that, says her mother.
In the evening, Therese goes to a friend’s house to show the pictures.
Therese has been moving back in with her parents for a few weeks now, but this evening she is not coming home, even though she has to get up early to go to work the next morning.
The mother calls and calls.
They go out and look for Therese but nowhere do they find her.
The mother contacts the police.
She then has no idea that she will never see her daughter again.
In the last ten years, at least 13 women who were pregnant or new mothers have been killed by their child’s future father.
Often the women were young, four of them did not even reach the age of 25.
Sometimes the pregnancy or the newly delivered child has been a triggering factor behind the murder.
Like in the case of Saga, where her boyfriend murdered her because he didn’t want his family to know that he was expecting a child with a white woman.
Even Siri’s boyfriend was unsure if he really wanted to be a father and said, among other things, on BB that he wanted to adopt the child away against Siri’s wishes. Three weeks later he murdered her with 33 stab wounds.
Another man’s motive is said to have been that he did not believe the child was his.
About 1.5 years earlier Therese has become together with the 23-year-old boyfriend. He is charming and social.
– She was so in love with him. She did everything for him and at first we thought he was really nice and cute. But that image changed, says the mother.
Therese also changed during the relationship with her boyfriend. From being happy and energetic, her mother experienced how she became more withdrawn and how she was often sad and easily irritated. That laugh that she associated with Therese, the one that started in the pit of her stomach and then spread loudly and contagiously, was heard less and less often.
When Therese and her boyfriend had been a couple for about a year, Therese became pregnant. She was happy about the pregnancy and longed to be a mother. She started saving money for the upcoming baby in a special account.
– She thought that he also wanted the child. But in retrospect it became clear how he didn’t want it at all.
The last weeks of Therese’s life were marked by arguments with her boyfriend, by threats and violence. She broke up but he didn’t let her be.
Among other things, he wrote to her:
Finally, Therese gathered courage and reported him to the police for assault and molestation. Later, like many other women who are subjected to violence, she withdrew her report.
– I wish the police would have acted immediately when the report came in, says the mother.
Therese also changed her phone number so he wouldn’t be able to contact her and moved in with her parents but he sought her out outside their home, at her workplace and got into her Facebook and read her messages. One night he forced his way into her car and refused to leave it for several hours.
In a message to a friend, Therese later wrote:
To another friend she wrote:
There are usually warning signs when the pregnant women or the new mothers are murdered.
Therese was not alone in reporting her abuser to the police for assault. In any case, six of the 13 women who were killed had previously been subjected to violence by the perpetrator, which was reported to the police.
In addition, several of the men were suspected of having been violent towards children.
A man hit his children repeatedly with sharps and punches.
Kelvin had been investigated several times by social services and the police for having been violent towards his children before he murdered his heavily pregnant partner Carine.
Just months before he murdered his pregnant partner Josefine, Mirza had been reported to the police for violence against his child from a previous relationship.
That day for the ultrasound, Therese has decided that the boyfriend cannot come along to the examination. But in the meantime, he calls both Therese and her mother several times.
Later in the evening, when Therese is at her friend’s house to show the pictures, he calls the friend instead and gets to talk to Therese. They agree that she will meet him at a playground outside his apartment to show him the images from the ultrasound.
Exactly what happened next is not known except that it ended with the boyfriend repeatedly hitting her with hard fists, dragging her along the ground and strangling her to death.
When Therese was found dead in his apartment, after her family searched desperately and alerted the police, he had fled the country. He had taken with him, among other things, Therese’s account card and the ultrasound image.
After two weeks on the run, he was arrested in Germany and later sentenced to life imprisonment.
Life imprisonment is the most common sentence for men who murder their pregnant partners.
The fact that the women were pregnant is seen as an aggravating circumstance.
It has now been ten years since Therese was murdered. Soon the murderer may try to apply to have his sentence suspended.
But for Therese’s family, the pain never goes away.
It feels extra hard around the anniversary of her death and funeral.
– Her room remains exactly as it was, we haven’t moved anything, says the mother.
The mother describes how Therese loved to travel, how she adored her nephews and was passionate about dancing: she was a Zumba instructor for a group of pensioners.
– When she was little, she was very scared of herself, but that disappeared when she got older and she got more skin on her nose. That someone then came and took all that away from her is unimaginable.
FACT WOMAN: Here you can get help and support
Are you or someone close to you exposed to violence in a close relationship? Here is a selection of places you can turn to for help and support.
Important: Always call 112 in case of emergency. You can also reach the social service or the social emergency service in your municipality via the emergency number.
A national helpline for those who have been exposed to physical, psychological and sexual violence. Relatives and friends are also welcome to call.
Offers temporary sheltered housing for people who have been victims of intimate partner violence and honour-related violence. Accepts women, men, their children and accompanying animals with placement via social services.
The national organization for women’s shelters and girls’ shelters in Sweden collects shelters throughout Sweden, some of which offer sheltered accommodation. Find an on-call nearest you via Rok’s website. Click on “find an on-call”.
Collects over 130 women’s shelters, girls’ shelters and other support activities. On the website there are contact details for emergency services throughout Sweden, some of which offer sheltered accommodation. Click on “find on duty”.
Network for women’s rights against men’s violence. Emergency phone: 020-52 10 10. Advice in 70 different languages, including legal advice.
Provides support to criminal suspects, witnesses and relatives.
A women’s shelter for abused women with experiences of abuse and prostitution.
Support for LGBTQI people who have been exposed to abuse, threats and violence. RFSL support reception also runs a sheltered accommodation in the Stockholm area.
If you want to talk to someone who works at social services, you can call the switchboard in your municipality and ask to be connected to social services.
All children can get help via Bris, Children’s rights in society.
Can help with emergency call and crisis support: Call 112 and ask to be connected to the priest on duty.
A support platform for young people (15–20 year olds) who are exposed to violence in their partner relationships, offers chat every evening at 8–10 pm.
Choose to stop is a national telephone line for those who want help to change controlling or violent behaviour. The telephone line is run by the National Board of Health and Welfare in collaboration with Manscentrum Stockholm.
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