Denise Cosco, the daughter of a woman murdered by the Italian mafia after testifying against her own father, has reportedly taken her own life at the age of 35. She was found critically injured on Sunday in Rome and later died in hospital. Her mother, Lea Garofalo, was killed in 2009 and became a powerful symbol of resistance against the 'Ndrangheta clan in southern Italy.

Cosco, like her mother, had lived under state protection with a new identity for years. But those close to her say she remained extremely vulnerable and had reconnected with her father, Carlo Cosco, in prison in recent years. Friends say she struggled with mental health problems and addiction. Enza Rando, a senator and anti-mafia lawyer who represented Cosco at the murder trial, described her death as "a profound wound for the entire country" and proof that the mafia not only kills but creates "true monsters in the lives and souls" of survivors.

Francesca Rispoli, co-president of the anti-mafia organisation Libera, told the BBC that the mafia is not just physical. "You can leave. You can change your name. But there is still a tie, a family tie, that stays… deep inside and is impossible to overcome," she said. Rispoli argued that Cosco's death highlights the need for lifelong support for those who break with organised crime, as 'Ndrangheta relies on close-knit family networks.

Cosco had always refused to believe her father's story that her mother had abandoned her. In fact, he had tricked Garofalo to a meeting, then had her strangled, dismembered and incinerated. At a public funeral in 2013, Cosco spoke of her mother's courage. Prosecutors have now opened an investigation into whether there was any incitement to suicide, and her phone has been seized. Friends and supporters were due to gather in Milan on Friday evening to remember her near the spot where her mother was abducted. Luigi Ciotti, president of Libera, wrote that Denise's life revolved between courage and suffering, and "today, something in that fragile equilibrium was broken forever."

Source: www.bbc.co.uk