On 2 January 2022, Paulina Dembska, a 29 year old Polish national living in Malta, was killed in Independence Gardens, Sliema. A man, Abner Aquilina, was later charged with her rape and murder. The killing, which took place in a public space in the early hours of the morning, shocked the country and quickly became one of the most closely followed criminal cases in recent Maltese history.