‘Crisis causes increase in homicides’

The number of homicides in Portugal is growing, writes Jornal de Notícias, adding that while the warning signs began in 2012, “the trend continued in the first quarter of this year, with a 20 per cent rise”.

Seventy-one homicides were recorded in the country since the beginning of the year, eight more than between January and the end of July of 2012.

While a source within the public prosecutor explains the crisis produces “greater conflict in families’ homes”, a specialist from a psychological support association assures in the daily that “we live in a financial dictatorship, and people have lost hope that things will change. Financial problems accumulate and worsen. People become desperate and fall into violence.”