Italy: Crisis turns to tragedy for Italy's 'white widows' - by Manlio Scimeca

Grieving widows of struggling Italian businessmen who killed themselves in the face of a deep recession took to the streets of Bologna on Friday, offering a poignant reminder of the pain that austerity can cause.

Waving white flags and joined by dozens of supporters, the small group of women - dubbed "white widows" by Italian media - marched from the city's hospital where craftsman Giuseppe Campaniello, 58, died late in March after he torched himself in his car in front of the local tax court.

Suicides among small-scale businessmen crippled by a combination of unpaid invoices, a credit squeeze and a rising tax burden have become an unwelcome consequence of economic crisis across parts of southern Europe.

Friday's procession was led by Campaniello's unemployed wife Tiziana, who has accused the state of being deaf to the needs of small businesses. Dressed in black, she and another black-clad woman held a white banner carrying his picture.

For more: Crisis turns to tragedy for Italy's 'white widows' - Reuters -