A 25-year-old gang rape victim from Barcelona has died by euthanasia after a long legal battle, delivering a defiant message to her father before her death. Noelia Castillo Ramos was sexually assaulted multiple times, with the final attack in 2022 involving three men. She attempted suicide by jumping from a fifth-floor building, surviving but left paralysed from the waist down and suffering chronic pain.
Noelia had a history of mental health issues, including borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and had been in psychiatric treatment since age 13. She made multiple overdose attempts before her 2022 assault. Her application for assisted suicide was initially blocked by her father, Geronimo Castillo, who witnessed her fall and later challenged her euthanasia request with support from the conservative group Abogados Cristianos.
In a television interview, Noelia said: 'My father saw me fall and couldn't do anything. But after everything he's done, I don't feel sorry for him anymore. He hasn't respected my decision and he never will.' Her request was granted by a Catalan committee in July 2024, with the procedure initially scheduled for August 2, but it was delayed by her father's legal challenges.
Noelia ultimately died on March 26, 2025, at Sant Camil Hospital. She had stated: 'I've finally done it. Let's see if I can finally rest because I can't take this family anymore, the pain, everything that torments me from what I've been through.' Her mother spent the final night with her, while her father and other relatives visited earlier on the day of her death.
