Unsettled family relationships trigger for many family tragedies… Here, everybody still remembers the case of Bujanovac, in Vranje region, a town lost in the middle of the Serbian southern mountains. In Vranje, on March 16, 2008, Boban Mitic, 34, killed his wife, Suzanna, 24, their two children respectively aged of 2 and 3 and their grandmother. Only the third girl, severely injured in the eye and left almost blind, and the grandfather, last arrived on the scene and saved due to the lack of bullets left in Boban’s cartridge, survived this tragic event.

I had decided to tell you about this case: About the open death threats pronounced several times against Suzanna but also against the members of organizations who worked with her. About the inaction of the social services in charge of protecting this family. About the feeling of “SOS Vranje hotline” members who supported this family and met with her one day before the tragedy. Touching and touched staff I had the opportunity to meet with… I had decided to make a specific blog about it. But on second thoughts, why Boban Mitic from Vranje ? Why not Nikola Radosavljević from Jabukovca (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabukovac_killings) or Dragan Cedic from Leskovac (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragan_%C4%8Cedi%C4%87) ?

And at the end, what should be said about these stories, what matters and should be kept from them, more than their details are their conclusions. In Vranje, for example, the conclusion is painful since no lesson has been drawn from the disappearance of this whole family. Despite the loss of these lives, despite the unfairness of the situation, according to the words of an activist, today, « we still cannot help these women in needs ». And she started relating the cases of battered women she’s currently dealing with, threatened of death by their husbands, and unable to find any kind of help facing up this lethal danger. These cases make us run the risk of seeing history repeating itself … And because of this, they deserve to be told. Because at one point, it is necessary to get out the circle of impotence and impunity Vranje represents. The video realized with members of SOS Vranje, summarizing the current situation can be found on the French version of this post, below this one. It cannot leaves us remaining stony-faced and calls for immediate action.

If you are a regular and attentive reader, maybe you have noticed the wordplay which stands for the title of this blog…Remember, “out of circle” is also the name of the organization dealing with domestic violence against the disabled… I therefore take the opportunity to add the video I realized with them, specifically dealing with the use of firearms in this phenomenon of domestic violence. Once against, comments and thoughts are more than welcomed.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT1zmULFQGI