Rossitsa Zhelyazkova, a Bulgarian from Plovdiv, was cruelly murdered in Syria on the night of May 13, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on Tuesday.

The victim's body was found on May 25. It had been quartered, splashed with sulphuric acid and thrown into the drain of the family swimming pool, BNT said.

On Wednesday, Lyubomir Todorov, head of the Foreign Ministry's Consular Relations Directorate, confirmed in a special statement the identity of the woman and the crime. Todorov quoted the forensic examination report.

He also said that the victim's body was found disfigured on May 25 and that Zhelyazkova's Syrian husband was among the suspects. He was detained and released and is not currently in Syria. Zhelyazkova, 37, has a six-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son.

BNT added information, coming from an unnamed source, that the victim had been mistreated and threatened by her husband. She complained repeatedly at the Bulgarian Embassy that her husband tore up her Bulgarian passport and threatened her with a pistol.

"We know that relations in the family were strained," Bulgarian Ambassador to Syria Boris Stoichev said.

The Syrian authorities have taken the required measures to apprehend the murderer following an official request by the Bulgarian Embassy, Todorov said. According to him, no effort will be spared to have the victim's two children back in Bulgaria as soon as possible on the basis of the legal framework of Bulgarian-Syrian relations.

The victim's mother has left for Syria to identify the body and take care of it.