Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri was asked in a Parliamentary question whether he should resign following the inquiry into Bernice Cassar's murder, which concluded that the system failed her.
Cassar was killed in a shooting in Kordin last November on a road close to MCAST. She was a mother of two from Qrendi, aged 40, and was driving a Nissan Qashqai at the time of the incident. Roderick Cassar is charged with the femicide of his wife and is pleading not guilty.
The parliamentary question was made by PN MP Claudette Buttigieg. In response, Camilleri defended the work that the police have done to reduce instances of domestic violence but he admitted that there are still cases of victims of femicide.
Camilleri said that is why he and minister of Justice Jonathan Attard asked for this inquiry so that even the government and society understand what needs to be done better.
He went on to mention the number of changes the ministry has made over the years to reduce domestic violence cases.
He mentioned that in 2020 the commission for domestic violence and victims of gender-based violence started operating with a full-time commissioner, the gender-based and domestic violence unit was established in the police, the victim support agency was founded which also incorporated the victim support unit of the police, 24-hour assistance for victims of gender-based or domestic violence, and the implementation of the law that recognises femicides.