Crimes

A shocking case of forced child marriage has led to the arrest of the victim's parents and the man she was made to marry, a sect member of a religious congregation affiliated with her father.

The Family and Social Services Ministry has initiated an application to prioritize support for women and children who are victims of violence, as a social support hotline has seen a significant surge in calls since March, Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş has said.

An appeals court in Crete has confirmed the conviction of a Norwegian man for the murder of his wife in January 2021.

The man, now aged 50, will continue to serve his life sentence for the murder, which the court unanimously ruled was premeditated and committed in a clear state of mind.

Police have arrested three teenagers, aged 14, 16 and 19 over the assault and mugging of two 14-year-olds. They were charged with causing grievous bodily harm and robbery in conspiracy, as well as for violating legislation on fan violence.

An avalanche of reports of domestic violence followed the news of the abuse of an 18-year-old girl in Stara Zagora, but court orders for permanent victim protection increased even earlier in the year.

This is what Zornitsa Shumanova, who heads the new unit for combating domestic violence at the National Police, told bTV:

With 144 votes "in favor", the Bulgarian parliament adopted the amendments to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence in the first reading. With them, "intimate relationship" is equated to marital partnership and cohabitation without marriage, and victims receive the same opportunities for protection.

Interpol has ended a two-year global operation to catch criminals running networks of websites with child sexual abuse material designed to generate advertising profits.

After the deaths of six illegal migrants in the past 14 days due to lack of oxygen in the trailers of trucks they sneaked in at the border province of Edirne, drivers and transportation companies have started to take measures to prevent the boarding of migrants.

At an extraordinary meeting, the legal commission in the Bulgarian parliament adopted changes to the Criminal Code and the Law on Domestic Violence. Penalties for minor and moderate bodily harm are increased, and intimate relationships are equated to cases of domestic violence along with de facto conjugal cohabitation.

A pregnant woman from Burgas lost her fetus after being hit in the stomach by her boyfriend. The case is from last week. The woman sought protection at the Center for the Prevention of Violence. From there, they report an escalation of cases of violence against pregnant women, with three in the last month in Burgas alone.