The flour hangs in the air like snow. Thick, white, everywhere. On the floor, on the shelves, on the hair of Stanisław Nowak, who for forty-five years has been getting up at three in the morning to bake bread for his neighborhood. He is seventy-two years old, but his hands – wrinkled, covered with burn scars – move with the precision of a surgeon.
The Unseen Scars: A Naples Lawyer’s Plea for Understanding After Bus Attack
Naples, Italy – The chill of a March evening, the routine wait for a bus, and then, a sudden, brutal plunge into terror. Alessia Viola, a 32-year-old criminal lawyer from Naples, sits in her home, the physical wounds from a recent bus attack still fresh, yet her words carry a weight far beyond the visible scars. She speaks not of vengeance, but of a profound societal failing, asserting that in this harrowing incident, both she and her attacker are victims.
“Something went wrong in this chain of events. And that man was left alone,” Viola states, her voice steady despite the recent ordeal. The attack, which occurred on the evening of March 5th on a bus in Vomero, left her with stab wounds to her face, hands, and arms. Yet, her focus remains on the systemic neglect that, she believes, led to the tragedy.
The Encounter Before the Attack: A Cry for Help Unheard
Viola vividly recalls the moments leading up to the assault. “That man was there, with me, under the bus shelter in Piazza Quattro Giornate. He had just come from the nearby Carabinieri barracks and was complaining loudly.” His grievances, she explains, centered on feeling ignored, unheard. Even as he attacked her, he repeatedly claimed to feel threatened and blackmailed. This, she surmises, points to a deeper, unaddressed anguish.
“He had turned to the police just minutes before,” she reflects. “It was obvious that he was in a state of alteration, but his discomfort was not fully intercepted. And the abandonment of those who need attention can produce such episodes. I think that like me, he is also a victim.”
A Society That Abandons: The Attacker’s Tragic End
The attacker, whose name has not been released, later took his own life, adding a layer of profound sadness to an already tragic event. Viola expresses empathy for his parents, acknowledging the pain they must be enduring. “The society we live in produces abandonment, always leaving someone behind. And then I think of the pain of his parents.”
Her own injuries required surgery on her left hand, and doctors at Cardarelli Hospital informed her that a stab wound to her jaw missed her jugular by just a centimeter. Yet, it is the psychological trauma that lingers most acutely. “It’s the nightmare I lived through that stays with me: I felt in those moments like I was in a horror movie. Is this really happening to me? I asked myself. It’s a feeling I will never forget.”
The Bus Ride: A Routine Turned Nightmare
The evening began like any other. Viola was waiting for a bus to go home after work. A few other people were at the stop. The attacker was the last to board, and despite many empty seats, he positioned himself behind her. “There were so many empty seats, and that struck me,” she remembers.
Then, without warning, he struck. “He delivered a first blow to my arm. Instinctively, I raised my hands, and he hit me again.”
Flight and Heroism: The Driver’s Quick Thinking
The bus, a space usually mundane, became a scene of panic. “There were 5/6 people, they all got up and fled towards the driver.” No one, she says, attempted to intervene. “I heard them screaming, asking for the doors to be opened. Then they all fled.”
Viola credits the bus driver, Davide, with saving her life. “I owe my life to Davide, the driver, who rushed towards us and bought time by trying to calm that man. He even visited me in the hospital.” She also expresses gratitude for the outpouring of support from the mayor, medical staff, and her legal community.
The Basaglia Law and the Gaps in Mental Healthcare
As a lawyer, Viola’s perspective on the incident extends to the broader implications for mental health care. She questions the effectiveness of the Basaglia Law, which reformed psychiatric care in Italy. “The void produces abandonment. And something was missing, some strategic element, even in this story: who should take charge of people’s psychological distress.”
She believes a simple intervention could have averted the tragedy. “It would have been enough for the Carabinieri to alert 118 [emergency services] or the ASL [local health authority] after noticing the man’s state of alteration: there would have been neither the aggression nor the tragic epilogue of his death.”
A Renewed Commitment to Justice
During her convalescence, Viola has deeply missed her work. The experience has only strengthened her resolve. “It has reinforced in me the idea of wanting to be at the service of justice. What we live today is something very different from the social state of law. There is an enormous distance between this and the state of things.”
Her words serve as a poignant reminder that behind every act of violence, there are often layers of unmet needs and systemic failures. Alessia Viola, a victim herself, bravely calls for a society that does not abandon its most vulnerable, a society where no one is left alone.
Source: https://napoli.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/26_marzo_12/alessia-accoltellata-sul-bus-a-napoli-quell-uomo-e-stato-lasciato-solo-siamo-entrambi-vittime-311a7b0f-d576-4070-97dc-25c05174exlk.shtml
