The tragic death of Coronation Street's Kal Nazir will mark the beginning of his partner Leanne Tilsley's domestic abuse storyline.
Corrie bosses announced in March that the show will be exploring the issue of child-parent violence, with Leanne (Jane Danson) coming under attack from her young stepson Simon Barlow.
Exact details of how the storyline would begin had been kept under wraps until now, but following Kal's dramatic exit, it's been revealed that his demise will be the final straw for troubled Simon (Alex Bain).
Coronation Street's producer Stuart Blackburn explained: "Simon's been through so much, with his alcoholic dad and various people in his life disappearing. He has a line at some point where he says that everyone either dies or goes away!
"With losing Kal, it's another male figure in his life who's gone. Simon is going to take it really, really hard.
"We've already announced where we're going with this story - it's one piece of grief too much for Simon and all of his emotions that he can't handle."
In a surprising turn of events, Kal's son Zeedan (Qasim Akhtar) will be the first person to discover Leanne's ordeal and he will try his best to help her, putting aside their previous animosity.
Blackburn added: "From a rocky start, Kal's death is a story where Leanne will form a really strong friendship with Zeedan. It is only a friendship, it's not going anywhere else. I think the Nazirs will start to take Leanne to their hearts. She was Kal's woman, so they're going to stay close to her.
"Zeedan will be the first one to find out about Leanne and Simon, but for weeks she keeps it a secret. Like any of these situations, people can't help because they don't know what's happening. So there's going to be some meaty stuff coming up."
