A student in Rome was burned alive by an ex-boyfriend who just couldn’t let go, reports the Daily Mail.
While Sara Di Pietrantonio, 22, was visiting her current boyfriend, she had no idea that her angry ex-boyfriend was lurking right outside. Vincenzo Paduano, 27, left his job as a security guard around 3 a.m. to wait for Di Pietrantonio. When she left the house in her car, Paduano followed, eventually forcing her car to the side of the road and getting inside to argue with her. Then, Paduana soaked both Di Pietrantonio and her car interior with alcohol. When Di Pietrantonio tried to run, Paduano set the car ablaze with a cigarette lighter.
She was only able to get about 100 meters away before he set her on fire, too, and left her to die. A surveillance camera captured her screaming for help. Paduano is currently being held on suspicion of the crime, after having confessed. His motivation? He couldn’t “accept” the fact that he’d been dumped, according to prosecutor Maria Monteleone.
The Independent reports that the surveillance footage shows cars driving right past Di Pietrantonio as she burned to death. Monteleone told reporters that if a passerby had stopped to help, then Di Pietrantonio’s life might have been saved.
Monteleone also encouraged other young women to speak up about a partner’s threatening behavior. If your partner would rather you die than break up with them, then they don’t love you.