Police investigate death of woman and her two children and their father's suicide

Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, are investigating the violent death of a woman and her two young children in El Prat de Llobregat, just south of Barcelona. 

The children's father died by suicide, according to the police. 

Police discovered the bodies of the woman and the two children in their home on Monday evening. 

Some hours earlier, a man, who turned out to be the father of the children, died by suicide at El Prat de Llobregat train station. 

The woman and the man were 43 years old and the two children were eight.

The Catalan equality and feminism department has offered its services to the woman's family and friends and made an appeal for privacy. 

According to local residents, the couple had bought their house approximately two years ago but had recently put it up for sale and were in the process of separating.

Urgent meeting and experts committe

Catalan equality and feminism minister Tània Verge has announced an urgent meeting on femicides due to the attack reported in El Prat de Llobregat.

From Brussels, where Verge is attending a meeting of the European Parliament on period poverty, she addressed media outlets.

"This is another case of serious gender based violence," she said before announcing the creation of an independent group of experts that will "identify ways to improve the tools to analyze the risk," especially to prevent vicarious violence.

Mayor laments "appalling act" 

The mayor of El Prat, Lluís Mijoler, expressed his "dismay" at the killings. 

"We have suffered gender-based violence of the highest magnitude," saying that the city felt "very fragile." 

This crime "is an appalling act that should not take place in any city in the world." 

The mayor decreed three days of mourning, with all recreational public events suspended until Friday. Mijoler issued an appeal to "respect" the privacy of the family and confirmed that the council was not aware of any complaints of violence in the family, nor of any issues with social services. 

Speaking to the media at lunchtime on Wednesday, the mayor said that the council would hold a minute's silence at 7pm. At the town hall, flags fly at half-mast as a sign of mourning. 

The council has contacted the school where the two children who were killed studied, in order to offer social and psychological support. 

10 femicides this year: five women and five children 

According to the equality department, there have been 10 femicides in 2024: five women have been killed and five children – two together with their mother, and three with the purpose of vicarious violence, ie violence against children with the purpose of causing psychological damage to their mother. 

Women suffering from gender-based violence can call the free and confidential hotline +34 900 900 120. The emergency services number is 112.