‘Lovely, happy, down-to-earth’: relatives mourn mother-of-two Chantelle Chetcuti

The 34-year-old Safi mother of two who was stabbed by her estranged partner on Sunday, was a “lovely, happy, down-to-earth woman,” a relative who spoke to this newspaper said.

Chantelle Chetcuti was brutally stabbed five times in the head by her ex-partner Justin Borg on Sunday 2 February, just after 8pm outside the Zabbar football club bar.

But the woman did not survive the assault, ultimately losing her battle with death on Monday night at Mater Dei Hospital.

Borg, father of her two daughters, was charged with her murder yesterday afternoon, apart from being in possession of cocaine. He is pleading not guilty to the charges.

Speaking to MaltaToday, a relative of Chetcuti’s spoke fondly of the close relationship she had with his daughter. “My daughter was meant to have been with Chantelle that night, however, she ended up having to work the late shift. I shudder to think what would have happened… The cruellest thing in life is for a parent to have to bury their child.” 

Chetcuti was described by her relative as a “lovely, happy, down-to-earth woman. A good mother. Beautiful on the outside and the inside.”

But he said she and Borg had had a rocky relationship. “She tried to mend things despite the cheating that went on in the relationship. But she simply couldn’t. It was difficult to bear for her and so she told him enough. That was when he started stalking her.”

The sleepy village of Hal Safi has been left shaken by the murder, with neighbours of Chetcuti yesterday speaking to this newspaper about the tragic loss.

A close neighbour recounted taking Chetcuti’s daughters to school – on account of being close with the victim’s mother. “As far as I was considered, they were just normal neighbours – I used to see both Chantelle and her ex-partner walking into her mother’s house. Everything always seemed normal; I never had any trouble with anyone in the family.”

Another resident said she would see Chetcuti out and about. “I used to see her at the park with her daughters all the time, I never spoke to her, but I always got the impression that she was kind-hearted,” one resident said.