Martigues: A 25-year-old woman was stabbed to death, her partner imprisoned.

A 25-year-old woman was found dead Monday in an apartment in Martigues, Bouches-du-Rhône. According to the autopsy findings, the victim received 58 blows inflicted with a bladed weapon, mainly on the torso, head and neck. Given the seriousness of the findings made by investigators, the young woman's partner, aged 40, was charged with voluntary homicide of his spouse before being placed in pretrial detention.

When emergency services arrived, the victim was lying unconscious on the floor with numerous bleeding wounds on her upper body. The man in his forties, who was present in the apartment when emergency services arrived, claimed he had discovered his partner covered in blood upon returning home from work and had called his neighbors for help. Despite his statements, the evidence gathered during the investigation led the authorities to open a judicial inquiry for the voluntary homicide of a spouse.

A new case amid a rise in femicides

The suspect, who denies committing the crime, was brought before an investigating judge on Wednesday before being formally charged. The Aix-en-Provence prosecutor's office nevertheless believes that the forensic findings and the investigations carried out justify his pretrial detention pending further investigation.

This case comes amid a still worrying context of domestic violence in France. According to the latest official figures from the Ministry of the Interior, 107 women were killed by their partner or ex-partner in 2024This represents an 11% increase compared to the previous year. By mid-2026, several groups are already reporting 63 femicidesraising fears of another particularly deadly year. Behind these statistics lie countless family tragedies that continue to question the effectiveness of prevention and victim protection measures.

Faced with this situation, associations are calling for increased resources dedicated to combating violence against women, improved handling of reports, and enhanced protection for victims from the first signs of danger. The investigation into the death of the young woman from Martigues is ongoing to determine the precise circumstances of this tragedy.