The first case

Anguillara, the husband is accused of feminicide: it's the first time. What changes from murder

The law came into force last 17 December and provides for a 'severity of the penalty regime' due to the psychological connotation of the conduct, which takes place 'as an act of discrimination or hatred towards the offended person as a woman'

by Rome Editorial Staff

20 January 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The Anguillara Case
L’accusa
The new crime of feminicide
What's in it
"Act of discrimination or hatred towards the offended person as a woman"
Other offences
Aggravating circumstances

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

A little over a month after it came into force, the offence of feminicide was charged for the first time against Claudio Carlomagno. The reference context is the murder in Anguillara (province of Rome) of Federica Torzullo. Her corpse was found near her husband's company on 18 January after a ten-day search.

The Anguillara case

According to the Civitavecchia Public Prosecutor's Office, after killing his wife, Carlomagno attempted to set fire to and cut up the body, in order to 'obstruct its recognition'. In the meantime, the man is in a cell and, during interrogation in prison, he availed himself of the right not to answer in front of public prosecutor Alberto Liguori. The investigators were aiming to obtain admissions from him on the dynamics of what happened on the night between 8 and 9 January in the cottage where he lived with Federica Torzullo (but the couple were in the process of separating) and their 10-year-old son.

L’accusa

Thus, in the light of investigative findings, the Civitavecchia public prosecutor's office decided to charge Carlomagno, who is also under investigation for concealment of a corpse, with the new crime of feminicide.

The new crime of feminicide

Last November, the Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved the Femicide Bill, which thus became law. It is precisely Law 181 of 2 December 2025, which came into force on 17 December 2025. It is a measure that introduces into the criminal code the new Article 577-bis, which punishes the crime of feminicide and introduces measures to combat violence against women and to protect victims.

What it provides

This conduct represents a specific case of homicide 'which, due to the seriousness of the phenomenon, the disvalue and the particular structure of the offence, is punished with the life sentence, with the application of a sentence of not less than 24 years imprisonment in the event of the concurrence of a single mitigating circumstance'. The rule directly prescribes the application of the penalty of life imprisonment, without establishing a framework between a minimum and a maximum penalty.

"Act of discrimination or hatred towards the offended person as a woman"

A 'severity of the penalty regime' due to the psychological connotation of the conduct, which occurs 'as anact of discrimination or hatred towards the offended person as a woman or to repress the exercise of her rights or freedoms or, in any case, the expression of her personality'.

Furthermore, the crime of feminicide is also provided for when the conduct is committed in connection with therefusal of the woman to establish or maintain an emotional relationship or as an act of restriction of her individual freedoms.

Other offences

The law also amends the crime of ill-treatment against family members and cohabitants by extending, on the one hand, the type of possible victims, including also noncohabitants provided that they are related by filiation to the offender, and on the other hand by introducing a new aggravating circumstance when the conduct is committed in the manner established for the crime of feminicide. The mandatory confiscation of assets used to commit the crime of ill-treatment is also provided for.

The aggravating circumstances

For a long list of offences there is also a one-third to one-half penalty increase if committed in the same manner as feminicide. Crimes of bodily harm, grievous bodily harm or grievous bodily harm, mutilation of female genital organs, deformation of the person's appearance by permanent facial injury, manslaughter, and non-consensual termination of pregnancy are affected.

For the offence of sexual violence an increase in the penalty by one third, for the offence of stalking by one third to two, for the unlawful dissemination of sexually explicit images or videos an increase in the penalty by one third to two thirds is stipulated.