Woman remains critical after supermarket stabbing in northern Nicosia

Nicosia, Cyprus. A woman remains intubated and in critical condition after she was stabbed multiple times at a supermarket in the northern Nicosia suburb of Taskinkoy on Monday. The 31-year-old suspect, who later stabbed himself, is receiving treatment and has not yet appeared in court.

Victim’s condition

Northern Nicosia’s Dr Burhan Nalbantoglu hospital chief physician Hasan Birtan said the woman had sustained multiple organ injuries and significant blood loss.

She is being treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit and her life remains in danger, he told the north’s Tak news agency.

Birtan said the suspect is receiving treatment on a regular ward and is in a stable condition.

Incident at supermarket

The incident occurred shortly before midday on Monday inside the Metropol supermarket in Taskinkoy.

The man allegedly stabbed the woman before stabbing himself.

Authorities’ response

The north’s ‘interior minister’ Dursun Oguz said the suspect arrived in Cyprus last Thursday via the Republic of Turkey as a tourist.

Oguz told the north’s public broadcaster BRT that the man had previously travelled to Cyprus in 2018, last year and in February.

He said the case should be considered from a national security perspective beyond its personal dimension, adding that Turkish Cypriot authorities were assessing the matter within that framework.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said violence against women constituted a loss of civilisation.

He said attention should shift from the normalisation and sensationalism of individual cases towards holistic policies aimed at eliminating violence against women and all forms of violence.