ROME - In a family drama reminiscent of Greek Tragedy, a Mafia Boss, Pino Scaduto, ordered his son to kill his sister. Maria Caterina Scaduto was having an extra marital affair with a member of the carabiniere, Italian militarised police for which she refused to end once it became known to her family. Her father was furious and, beyond the danger of her daughter informing to the police, Mafiosos believe themselves to be men of honour which made the notion of his daughter’s infidelity completely unacceptable.

Pino ordered his son, Pao, to carry out the honour killing. Paolo, released from prison in April, is under investigation for another murder and refused to murder his sister. He said in phone call to a friend that was being recorded by the police that he didn’t want to be “consumed (burned away) in prison,” for the crime, “if he wants it done he should do it himself … in this family they kill like dogs.”

Pino turned to Vincenzo Galatolo to carry out order after being refused by another hit man because they didn’t want to involve themselves in a family matter. Galatolo carried out a similar murder in 1993, a staged robbery in which he shot Lia Pipitone with a shotgun for having an affair, another honour killing ordered by the victim’s Mafioso father, Antonino, leaving Lia’s son motherless.

Italy ’s foreign affairs minister, Angelino Alfano, reacted to the crime by saying “the mafia define themselves as men of honour. But where is the honour in ordering the killing of your child?”

Violence against women is not simply a problem in the Mafia community. A recent ISTAT study stated that “of those 149 women murdered in 2016, almost 3 out of 4 were committed in the family: 59 women were killed by the partner, 17 by a former partner and another 33 by a relative.” While these statistics do not speak to the motive behind these murders, it does show that a woman is much more at risk from dangers inside the home than outside.

Pino Scaduto was arrested on Monday alongside fifteen other members of the Bagheria clan, accused of mafia association and extortion of local businesses, specifically in the construction and water companies.

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