Just a few hours before she lost her life, Arlinda Zekaj had asked police a question that is now seen as a tragic warning of her murder and as evidence of the institutions’ failure to protect her.
“Does Jeton have to kill me for you, the police, to arrest him then?” she had asked, according to the report of the prosecuting authorities dated October 25, 2026.
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At around 5:58 p.m. that same day, Arlinda had given her final statement to police. She recounted that, following a conflict at the apartment, her former husband, Jeton Sylaj, had threatened her and thrown her clothes into the yard.
“After I came out of the bathroom and waited for the washing machine to finish washing Jeton’s family members’ clothes, and after the washing machine had finished, I put my clothes in to be washed, turned on the washing machine and went to the kitchen to eat. Only when I heard Jeton shouting loudly did he begin threatening me with the words: ‘I’ll break you, I’ll kill you, what are you doing in my house, you can’t act like this, who are you,’ and after he had taken my clothes and thrown them into the yard of the house, as the police also saw. I immediately called the police out of fear.”
Arlinda had said that she immediately called the police because she had been frightened by his behavior.
Although she had said that she did not feel completely safe, she had refused to go to a shelter. Arlinda had insisted that she would give up neither her son nor her property.
“I do not feel safe enough, but I will not give up my son and my property. The state has had an obligation and must remove the usurpers from my house,” her statement said, according to the police report.
However, the events reported on October 25 did not mark the beginning of the conflict Arlinda had been facing.
An important part of the case concerned her 12-year-old son, who held American citizenship.
According to the case records, the child had gone to visit his uncle but later did not return to his mother. Arlinda claimed that the father’s family was keeping the boy and preventing him from returning to her.
The complaint in this case was filed with police on July 10, 2026, and registered under reference number 2026-DA-853.
On July 13, Arlinda was questioned again. A day later, Jeton Sylaj was also interviewed, together with the boy, who said that he wanted to stay with his father’s family.
Investigative reports, meanwhile, had established that the child had also been left without care by his father. Jeton Sylaj had traveled to America on September 5, 2026, leaving custody of his son with third parties.
In response to this situation, the Basic Court in Peja ruled on September 16 that the minor should be returned to his mother.
The court also set the amount of child support to be paid and issued a protection order barring Jeton from approaching Arlinda.
“Jeton Sylaj is prohibited from approaching the protected party, Arlinda Zekaj, within a distance of 2 meters at the house where the protected party currently resides, as well as within a distance of 20 meters on the street, in the city, village or at her workplace. He is also prohibited from exercising physical or psychological violence, blocking the victim’s movement, insulting, harassing or threatening the protected party.”
In addition to the report running dozens of pages, dated October 16, 2026, this case also included decisions by judicial authorities dated October 23 and October 25. In them, Arlinda asked the state to enforce the decision ordering the return of her son to her.
On October 23, 2026, prosecutor Nora Tigani filed an indictment against Jeton Sylaj for the criminal offense of threatening, as provided for in Article 181, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo.
The indictment described a series of threats that, according to the evidence and materials administered by the prosecution, had been directed at Arlinda.
“I’ll kill you,” “I’ll drag you by force,” “not even the army will be able to take you from my hands,” and “you won’t see your son if I’m alive,” were some of the phrases included in the document.
Thus, the alleged threats had been reported and institutional action had been taken several months before the murder.
Two days before the murder, on October 23, the Basic Prosecution in Peja had filed an indictment against Jeton Sylaj for threatening.
On October 25, several hours before she was killed, Arlinda went to the police again. She reported the threats and expressed fear that her life might be in danger.
“Do I have to be killed by Jeton for you to arrest him?” was the question she put to the police officers.
She had reported the violence, spoken about the fear she felt and asked not to be separated from her son.
After the latest report of violence, Arlinda returned home accompanied by police. Jeton was arrested because a criminal report had already been filed against him. However, just minutes after police left Arlinda at the door of the house, she was killed with an axe by her brother-in-law.
Her question to the police, asking whether she had to die for the state to intervene, received the most tragic answer: Arlinda Zekaj was killed.
