A child in Mijas alerted the Guardia Civil after his father entered their home and beat his sleeping mother about the head.
Police arrived at the home to find the woman in her bed, bleeding from head wounds. She had been hit several times with a blunt instrument. There was no sign of the attacker.
The couple were divorced, the woman living with their son in Mijas and the father living with their daughter in Benalmádena. Police began the search for the man but he was neither at his home nor at his place of work. Hours later, his car was found on the A-4 in Santa Elena, Jaén province, and his lifeless body was found beneath a viaduct. The assumption is that he took his own life.
The woman was taken to the Hospital Costa del Sol where it was subsequently discovered that her wounds were not as serious as first thought. She has already been discharged from hospital.