The 41-year-old man who killed his wife in a field next to the motorway which links Nicosia and Morphou appeared in court for the second time on Wednesday, with a police representative recounting the sequence of events which led to the 35-year-old woman’s death.

According to newspaper Yeniduzen, the representative told the Turkish Cypriot Nicosia district court that an “argument” had broken out between the couple at around 6pm on Saturday, while they were travelling on the road towards Nicosia.

Once this argument broke out, the representative said, the car careered into a field near the Yerolakkos industrial area.

The representative said that at this point, the man began to repeatedly strike the woman, who was named as Rukiye Tuncer, over the head with a rotary saw, killing her.

After the man was arrested, the police had searched his home, with the representative saying that “no illegal evidence” was found on the premises.

The representative also said that an autopsy on Tuncer’s body concluded that she had died as a result of “tissue damage due to head trauma”, and added that the police have begun to examine local CCTV camera footage and mobile phone records related to the incident.

At the end of the hearing, judge Gizem Erciyes ordered that the man remain in custody for a further eight days, with the police’s investigation into the matter ongoing.

The second femicide in a week

Tuncer’s death was the second murder of a woman under the watch of the Turkish Cypriot authorities in the space of a week, with 61-year-old Saliha Ozkol having been stabbed to death by her 71-year-old ex-husband on Monday last week.

On Monday evening, banners appeared at various locations around the island, including on the motorway linking Nicosia and Morphou, reading “I do not want to die”. They had been placed by Turkish Cypriot opposition political party the CTP’s women’s branch.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman called for an “action plan” to be created to protect Turkish Cypriot women from violence.

“What I have read, seen, and heard frightens me. Our vision should be one of zero loss of life and zero violence. Laws and their implementation are certainly important, but we need a comprehensive action plan which foresees women’s economic freedom and both formal and informal education,” he told television channel Kanal Sim.

He added that “cultural development is a fundamental element for a society to stand on its feet, and we must confront these cultural problems”.