The father, suspected of the murder of his two daughters in Isperih, had a depressive disorder. This was announced by former Minister of the Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev. According to him, his problems were not identified in time, and whether the institutions reacted according to the established procedure is yet to be checked.
The tragedy in Isperih became known on Friday evening. The bodies of two girls - aged 10 and 17, as well as their 42-year-old father - were found in a house in the city. The leading version of the investigation is that the man killed his daughters and then committed suicide. According to the prosecutor's office, the crime was probably committed on Tuesday, and the bodies were discovered a few days later.
The case also raises the question of whether there were prior signals of risk in the family. According to the information provided in the interview, the man's wife had filed reports of domestic violence with the police, but subsequently withdrew them.
It is in such cases that coordination between the police and social services is important. The Ministry of Interior indicates that in the event of signals of domestic violence, there is an established mechanism for interaction with “Social Assistance“, the prosecutor's office, the courts and other institutions. The goal is for information about risk to be transmitted between the services and for measures to be taken to protect the victims.
Demerdzhiev pointed out that back in 2022, domestic violence was set as a priority and a work algorithm was agreed between the institutions. It is now to be established whether it was complied with specifically in the case in Isperih.
An important question is also how to proceed when a report of violence is subsequently withdrawn. Withdrawal alone does not automatically mean that the risk has disappeared. According to the rules of the Ministry of Interior, in cases of domestic violence, the information must be assessed and coordination with the competent institutions must be ensured.
The investigation into the tragedy continues. The motives for the crime are yet to be clarified, as well as whether there were any actions or omissions by the institutions before it that could have shown that the family was in danger.