The 32-year-old woman murdered on Sunday in Vitoria-Gasteiz had moved to this city, where she was from, to start a new life away from her attacker. Maialen Mazón was a certified victim of gender violence and she had decided to leave the Valencian Community, where she had lived together with her ex-partner, father of her daughter and, also, biological father of the twins she was expecting. She was staying in an apartment hotel in the center of the city that her mother had rented. On Saturday night, however, her ex-partner broke into this accommodation and allegedly murdered her in front of her daughter. The Civil Guard arrested him last night in Zaragoza.
The arrest occurred around 8:35 p.m. by agents of the Citizen Security Unit (USECIC) of the Benemérita, when the 34-year-old man was traveling in a taxi on the AP-68.
The victim, Maialen Mazón, was found early yesterday afternoon in an aparthotel in the capital of Alava. The room in which she was found was bloodied and her two and a half year old daughter was in a crib when the Ertzaintza arrived.
The little girl was transferred to a hospital in order to verify that she was not injured. Later, she was taken to the home of her maternal grandmother, in the capital of Álava.
The only hypothesis that the investigation is considering is that it is a new crime of sexist violence. Maialen was a certified victim of sexist violence and had had police protection due to "extreme risk".
The level of protection, however, had changed in recent days, after his return to the Basque Country. The Security Councilor of the Basque Government, Josu Ekoreka, has indicated that the young woman conveyed to the Ertzaintza up to two times her desire to eliminate the restraining order that weighed on her sentimental partner, since she did not feel "fear" or a sensation of " danger" that he might attack her again.
"We are talking about affective relationships, which can be pathologized, in which it is not always the case that the victim at all times sees clearly that they have to be protected and defended with respect to the alleged aggressor," Erkoreka stated.
In this sense, he has affirmed that "it is not easy to protect a victim beyond the perception of risk that the victim herself has of herself."
The investigation considers the hypothesis that the young woman herself revealed to her ex-partner where she was staying, in an apartment hotel that was initially a secret location.
The detainee is a 34-year-old businessman who lived in the Valencian Community and who had a history of sexist violence.
