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The family of Eleni Topaloudi, the 21-year-old university student who was raped and murdered by two men on the Dodecanese island of Rhodes in 2018, has said it will any of the \u20ac905,000 sum awarded to them in compensation they receive for the \u201cfight against femicide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Topaloudi\u2019s parents, her brother, her grandmother and other relatives had taken a civil action against the two men convicted for her murder and rape and one of their fathers for the mental anguish they suffered.<\/p>\n
In their lawsuit, they underlined the unprecedented violence of the crime, the deceit and the methodical way in which the perpetrators tried to cover up their criminal actions. They also accused one of the perpetrator\u2019s fathers of failing to take the necessary measures to prevent his son\u2019s criminal activity.<\/p>\n
The court ruled that the younger of the convicted men, an Albanian national who was 19 years old at the time of the crime, pay \u20ac240,000 each to the victim\u2019s father and mother, \u20ac200,000 to her brother, \u20ac100,000 to her grandmother and \u20ac100,000 to her grandfather\u2019s heirs and \u20ac25,000 to each of her uncles.<\/p>\n
However, the court dismissed the claim against the older perpetrator, a Greek local who was 21 years old when the crime was committed, as one of the pages of the lawsuit was missing an official stamp.<\/p>\n
The court also dismissed the claim against the younger perpetrator\u2019s father.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the court\u2019s decision, the family\u2019s lawyer, Evangelos Giougis, said it represented a moral vindication for his clients even though he doubts that the perpetrator will be able to pay the award in full.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an important decision; it awards a large amount of compensation, but we do not think that the defendant can come up with the amount. In any case, whatever amount is deposited on his behalf, Eleni\u2019s family wishes to use it in the fight against femicide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concerning the rejection of the compensation lawsuit against the older perpetrator, Giougis underlined that \u201cit was rejected for a purely bureaucratic reason. There was no stamp on the penultimate page of the lawsuit and the opposing parties objected to it on that ground. Of course, we will resubmit the lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Topaloudi\u2019s body was found in the sea by the coast guard in November 2018. At the trial of her rapists and murderers, the court heard how they lured her to one of their homes, where they raped and beat her before throwing her off a cliff into the sea.<\/p>\n
In May 2020, a lower court found the two defendants guilty of her rape and murder and sentenced them both to life imprisonment and an additional 15 years each. An appeals court confirmed the sentence in May 2022.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n