Direct Democracy MP Diana Constantinide has revealed that she lost her mother in a murder case in 1993, speaking amid a reignited debate over femicide following an attempted murder in Limassol in which a police officer shot his wife before taking his own life.
Constantinide said she considers herself one of the “collateral losses” of a murder. “I am one such collateral loss. In 1993 I lost my mother, in a murder case. I have lived, and continue to live, the collateral loss part of it, even though it was not a case of domestic violence,” she said.
The MP said the loss of a mother is not confined to the legal dimension of a case, but leaves a deep and lasting mark on those left behind. “Having your mother taken from you, the person we all need so much, is not just a legal matter. It is a deeply personal matter,” she said, stressing that particular care must be given to children who experience the consequences of femicide or attempted femicide.
“The most important thing of all is the children who are left behind and carry this whole burden,” she added.
Constantinide also spoke of the support she received from her father and her husband following her mother’s murder. “In this murder, in 1993, two men took my mother’s life. But two men, my father and my husband, stood by me so that I could be here today. They became my legs when I fell to my knees. They became my voice when I lost my voice, my belief in myself,” she said.
Addressing women who may be experiencing abuse or fear, she called on those struggling to speak out to find the strength to seek help. “Gather up whatever crumbs of strength you have inside you. And if you don’t have any, give birth to strength. We women can give birth. Give birth, and speak,” she said.
“We have seen femicides. Whether it was 1993 or 2026, the consequences are the same. The pain of the person remains the same,” she concluded.
The murders of Oxana Lisna and Christine Constantinide that shocked Cyprus
The 1993 murders of Oxana Lisna and Christine Constantinide are among the crimes that shocked Cypriot public opinion.
Christine Constantinide’s disappearance was reported on June 7, 1993. No evidence could be found at the time, and the case was shelved until October 26, when her body was discovered at the Kotsiatis rubbish dump, following information provided by the two perpetrators, who had by then been arrested. Ten excavators were deployed to locate her body, which had been hidden beneath tonnes of rubbish.
Oxana Lisna, 21, of Romanian origin, disappeared on June 20, 1993. Her body was found on October 31 of the same year in a dry well in Livadia, Larnaca, after information was provided to police. Both women’s bodies were found fully decomposed.
Antonis Prokopiou Kitas, known as “Al Capone,” and Michalis Iacovides were convicted in 1994 and sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of the two women. During the investigation, Kitas initially pointed to another individual as responsible for the crimes, though no evidence emerged against that person. Iacovides, a taxi driver by profession, subsequently confessed to involvement in both murders and named Kitas as his accomplice.
Context: renewed national debate on femicide
Constantinide’s disclosure came amid renewed public debate on femicide in Cyprus, following the attempted murder in Limassol. The woman remains in the intensive care unit at Nicosia General Hospital in extremely critical but stable condition, philenews has learnt.
The case also prompted an emergency session of parliament’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Committee, at which Police Chief Themistos Arnaoutis said the problem of gender-based violence is “much bigger than we believed,” citing 18,409 domestic violence complaints recorded between 2021 and 2026, against just 3,674 arrests.
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