A SUN-DRENCHED city on the Costa Blanca is in mourning this weekend after a three-year-old girl was killed by her own father in a suspected act of so-called ‘vicarious violence’.

The unnamed man, 40, is believed to have murdered his toddler daughter at home in Torrevieja, Alicante, before taking his own life.

The child’s mother, 36, alerted the Guardia Civil the previous evening after being unable to reach her ex-partner for several hours.

She told police that the couple had been divorced for two years but the father had previously threatened to hurt their child if she did not end an ongoing relationship with another man.

Officers then discovered the two bodies hanging in a garage adjacent to the father’s house in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The mother is currently in hospital after suffering an anxiety attack.

READ MORE: NAMED: Ex-Premier League footballer, 47, arrested in dramatic undercover drugs bust on the Costa del Sol

The shocking incident took place in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca

An investigation into the killing is being carried out by the Women and Minors unit of the Guardia Civil’s judicial police in Alicante, with early indications that the murder-suicide was a case of ‘vicarious violence’.

That term refers to a form of gender-based violence where a perpetrator, typically a male partner or ex-partner, inflicts harm on a woman by deliberately targeting people she loves, such as children, family members, friends or even pets.

Police say there were no prior reports of abuse and the family was not registered on Spain’s VioGen anti-domestic violence system.

“This terrible event shocks us as a society and reminds us of the need to continue working together to protect children and eradicate all forms of violence within the family,” said Eduardo Dolon, the mayor of Torrevieja.

Click here to read more Spain News from The Olive Press.