Mother, Daughter Found Murdered in Paphos

Police are investigating the premeditated double murder of a 24-year-old woman from Moldova and her three-year-old daughter, both of whom were found dead near the coastal area of Yeroskipou in Paphos.

Julia Oborok was found at 2.30pm on December 12th with gunshot wounds to her chest and abdomen, and her toddler Victoria Pozidou was found floating in the sea a short distance away from her mother's rental car.

A 29-year-old man - the victim's boyfriend - has been arrested to assist the investigation, said Paphos homicide investigators. A hairdresser by trade, the suspect has been remanded for eight days, authorities said. He was known to have physically abused the victim before her death, one time breaking a chair over her head, said police.

The murdered woman was four months pregnant.

Police spokesman Michalis Katsounodos said the crime was heinous and horrible and that police suspect pathological jealousy was behind the murders. Authorities are making every effort to gather evidence and solve the case, he said. Dive teams looking for evidence scoured the sea where the child was found, searching for the gun that was used to kill Oborok. The gun is still missing, according to the latest information.

The 29-year-old man denies any involvement and has made allegations which are being investigated, said Katsounodos in comments to Radio Proto.

An autopsy carried out by state medical examiner Nikolas Charalambous showed that the child died of asphyxiation from strangulation, while her mother died of gunshot wounds.

Oborok has been living in Cyprus for nine months after her divorce to a Russian Pontian man who is now living in Crete. The three-year-old girl was his daughter.

Their cruel murders have shocked and saddened the community.

Photo of Julia Oborok thanks to Sigmalive.com

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