Romanians are in shock, after the killings in Caracal

Gheorghe Dinca, a mechanic from the tiny town of Caracal, in southern Romania, has admitted the kidnapping, raping and killing of two teenagers. Alexandra Macesanu, aged 15, was reported missing on Wednesday, and on Thursday she managed to find a mobile phone and called the emergency number 112 three times. Despite the information she gave about the place where she was being held captive, the Special Telecommunication Service did not manage to get the exact location, establishing only a search area. 

Then, after searching three wrong addresses, the police needed 19 hours to eventually get to the suspect's home. The delay was explained by the fact that the prosecutor of the case, invoking some legal provisions, did not allow them to enter the 'death house' before 6 a.m. on Friday, when, of course, it was too late. 

At the hearings, Dinca admitted he had killed Alexandra right after he realized she had called 112. Evidence shows that after she was killed, the girl was incinerated. In the yard, in a barrel where he had burnt her, investigators found calcined human remains, as well as jewelry, which belonged to the victim.

The same fate was shared by another girl, Luiza Mihaela Melencu, aged 18, who had been reported missing by her family. Initially accused of trafficking and rape, subsequently Dinca was also accused of murder in the first degree. Specialists in psychiatry have drawn attention to the fact that the man could be a serial criminal and new evidence  might come up. That is why, the Caracal case is by no means over.

On Friday, when the first information was made public by the press, many citizens of Caracal, terrified neighbors and not only, gathered in front of the criminal's house to see what was happening, but also to voice they anger at the incompetent authorities,  who handled the case superficially. People also protested in Bucharest and in other cities across the country. 

Although the head of the Romanian Police and some local chiefs, as well as the Prefect of Olt County have resigned, nobody is satisfied. In the meantime, the head of the Special Telecommunications Service, Ionel Vasilca, has resigned too.

At the request of the president of the country, on Tuesday, at the country's Supreme Defense Council, a preliminary report will be presented on the situation in Caracal. Klaus Iohannis has stated that the resignations of those who were wrong are obligatory, but not enough, stressing that the root causes that facilitated the drama must be eliminated. 

In turn, the Prime Minister Viorica Dancila has decided to set up an inter-institutional working group to develop a plan of urgent measures to render the response time in critical situations more efficient.