Early on Friday morning, Weronika Kacperska was jolted out of her sleep by the terrible screams of a woman who was being beaten by a man in an apartment close to her Sliema flat.

The French woman immediately picked up the phone and dialled emergency number 112 – informing the operator of a case ofdomestic abuse.

“They told me a police car was on its way without asking me for my details. Minutes passed and they still hadn’t arrived,” 34-year-old Ms Kacperska told The Sunday Times.

Meanwhile, she continued hearing the screams of the woman and the man shouting at her.

“She was shouting, screaming and crying – a man was shouting at her, beating her and smashing her against objects. Each time I heard a terrifying howl of pain,” she said.

Twenty minutes later she called 112 again and was informed by the operator that police were on their way.

She gave them her home address because she did not know the exact address where the abuse was taking place. Instead, she wanted to direct the police from her apartment, located close to St Anne’s Square. However, the police never turned up.

“It was really scary. I could hardly speak – I couldn’t put the words together (when I called 112). I was really scared for that woman,” she said.

Together with her partner, Ms Kacperska lives in a block of apartments in the heart of Sliema’s shopping centre. She heard the screams from a neighbouring apartment that overlooks aninternal patio.

“At first I thought the sounds were from students having a party but then she kept screaming and I realised she was in pain,” Ms Kacperska said.

What made the situation worse for her was the feeling of helplessness. “I knew it was happening really close and I couldn’t do anything to help her,” she said.

The screams stopped at around 2 a.m. and, until she slept almost an hour later, Ms Kacperska said she did not see any police on site and she was not contacted in any way. “I clearly indicated that the police officers must come to my flat but they ignored my instructions,” she said.

She queried why the police did not turn up and why she was not asked for her details when she made the emergency call .

“Why did the operator not ask me for details – my identity, anything about the person calling at any point in the conversation?”

Ms Kacperska feels very strongly about domestic violence and the importance of reporting it to the authorities.

“I used to live in Spain where it is estimated that around 80 women die every year at the hands of their partners because of domestic violence,” she said.

She expressed surprise that the police failed to turn up and called for more social awareness in Malta to fight domestic abuse and report such cases.

Questions sent to the police on Friday remained unanswered.