Residents of an apartment building in Exarchia are living in fear as a 40-year-old man roams the communal areas wielding a kitchen knife, shouting, swearing, and banging on doors. Two women who live in the building appeared on the show ‘Exelixis Tora’ to describe their terrifying daily reality.
The younger resident, aged 26, described the anxiety they feel: ‘There is great fear. He doesn’t understand what he’s doing. He could become dangerous. He is in a state of rage. We are afraid to leave our homes because we don’t know what we might encounter.’
A 43-year-old woman added: ‘You can’t imagine what I go through at night when I hear someone knocking on my door, and I look through the peephole to see him half-naked. He tells me to open the door late at night, and I can’t calm down. I panic. Later, I hear him wandering around the building, screaming for help and swearing.’
Both women explained how desperate they have become: ‘We’ve reached a point where we coordinate with each other just to return home safely. You never know when he might become violent.’
They also revealed that the man suffers from delusions of persecution and has been known to knock on residents’ doors at unusual hours, including at 11:30 p.m., claiming to need assistance or being chased.
The women said they have repeatedly contacted the police but received little support. ‘We’ve contacted the police many times,’ the 26-year-old said. ‘They tell us there’s nothing they can do. He undergoes psychological evaluation and is released again. The police keep telling us he’s not dangerous.’
The 43-year-old added: ‘Three of us even filed official complaints, but there was no response. They don’t seem to care — it’s terrible! We don’t know what else to do. At one point, they told me to speak to the psychiatrist who keeps releasing him. We keep telling them — we’re scared.’
Even the man’s mother has tried to find a solution, but she too has found the authorities unresponsive. She claims officials take him in temporarily only to release him again without proper treatment.
It is clear that this man does not simply need temporary detention or warnings — he requires consistent psychiatric care. Until that happens, the residents remain trapped in a cycle of fear within their own homes.