Police have arrested a man who was holding his wife hostage in their flat in Nikaia, a suburb west of Piraeus, on Wednesday evening (23 September).

The operation by the Hellenic Police (ELAS) ended when the 44-year-old woman managed to open the door to officers. They entered the flat at 20 Sofokleous Street, where she had been with her 49-year-old husband, and arrested him.

Police were mobilised after receiving reports of a domestic violence incident. The man was allegedly keeping his wife inside the home and refusing to let her leave, and had claimed he was armed.

A large police presence gathered at the scene, and an ELAS hostage negotiator was called in to help resolve the situation safely.

“The woman was screaming for three days,” a neighbour told reporters. He said the couple had lived together for years and that both were on psychiatric medication.

Describing Wednesday’s events, the neighbour said the pair “had an argument, there was screaming and the neighbours called the authorities”. He added that the man had threatened his wife and locked her in the flat, and that he believed the husband may have been carrying a knife.

Traffic police diverted vehicles at the junction of Sofokleous and Vournova streets during the operation, closing off access to Sofokleous Street.