He Escaped from Strumica Prison, and a Day Later Attacked His Former Partner and Took Her by Force

E.K., a 25-year-old man, escaped from Strumica Prison. The next day he intercepted his former common-law wife in Šuto Orizari, physically attacked her, struck her with a hard object and then took her away with him by force. The woman is 25 years old.

The case was reported to Skopje police by her mother on October 6 at 10:50 pm. The Interior Ministry says only that "measures are being taken to clear up the case". The statement doesn't say whether the woman has been found, or whether the escapee has been caught.

He chose to escape, to look for her and to attack her - that is the sequence of events, and the responsibility is his. But the second question is for the system that was supposed to keep him locked up. How does someone escape from prison, and when exactly did anyone notice he was gone? Did the police warn the people the escapee might go back to - before he got to them?

The ministry's statement answers none of these questions. It has only initials, an age and the time of the report - and a woman whose fate, for now, nobody knows anything about.