SOFIA -- Thousands of people staged protest rallies in the capital, Sofia, and other Bulgarian cities following a case of shocking violence against an 18-year-old woman.
The incident happened on June 26 in the central city of Stara Zagora, where a woman identified by her initials, DM, was allegedly beaten and disfigured with a knife by her boyfriend, but was only made public on July 28 following the victim's family's frustration with the slow pace of the investigation.
Some 5,000 people gathered in Sofia on July 31, while large crowds also gathered in other cities in the Balkan country, including in Stara Zagora.
The 26-year-old suspect, identified by the media as Georgi Georgiev, was arrested after the attack, but a court in Stara Zagora later released him after rating the woman's injuries as "light."
He was rearrested on July 31, after the case was made public, sparking a wave of public outrage, and the prosecutor's office announced that it was "accelerating" the investigation.
A new prosecutor, Zhaneta Nedkova, was appointed to the case.
Nedkova ordered a new medical examination to determine how serious the victim's injuries actually are. The victim said Georgiev cut her hundreds of times, broke her nose, and shaved off her hair.
Demonstrators called for an overhaul of legislation and improved protection measures for women, carrying banners that read: "Not a single woman more."
Bulgarian police statistics show that 18 women were killed in the first trimester of this year by suspected partners. Women's rights activists say the number is actually much higher.
Bulgaria has yet to ratify the Council of Europe's Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention.
The European Union joined the Istanbul Convention in June, and Bulgaria, an EU member since 2007, will have to comply with some of the convention's provisions.
With reporting by AFP
