Skopje, 3 March 2026 (MIA) — Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski told a press conference Tuesday that a domestic dispute preceded the tragic deaths of a mother, Ivana, and her six-year-old daughter, Katja, who both fell from a balcony in Skopje's Karposh municipality Monday. 

Expressing his condolences and sharing the public’s "pain and revolt," Toshkovski confirmed that criminal charges would be filed against Ivana’s husband, Stojanche Jovanovski, in an expedited procedure.

According to the interior minister, just two hours before the fatal fall, police responded to a report of a domestic argument between the spouses. 

When officers arrived at 12:19 pm, Ivana told them the argument was a "misunderstanding" that had been settled peacefully. 

She signed a formal statement saying no violence had occurred, declined to press charges and said she was addressing their marital issues through divorce proceedings. 

By 2:10 pm, a passerby reported that a woman and child had fallen from a balcony at an apartment on Mitropolit Teodosij Gologanov Boulevard.

The husband is now in police custody. Toshkovski revealed that Jovanovski was a repeat offender with 10 prior criminal charges against him for violent crime, property theft and drug trafficking. He had been caught with 20 packages of drugs in December 2025.

Also, despite multiple domestic violence reports filed against Jovanovski over the past year, Toshkovski said the police were unable to proceed further because the victim consistently withdrew the reports and declined to press charges.

To address the public's need for answers, the interior minister pledged a thorough evaluation of the Ministry of Interior’s handling of the case. mr/