Bella Abati, mother of Dante Alighieri and wife of Alighiero di Bellincione, suffered ongoing abuse from her husband, abuse that extended to their son. Unable to confront Alighiero, her profound despair culminated in suicide by hanging around 1272, when Dante was five or six. After her death, Alighiero remarried Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi.

Condemned as a suicide to the Wood of Suicides within Hell's seventh circle, her soul merged with a tree. She appeared as a tree-like figure suspended by a wooden noose, her will intertwined with the forest and producing the Suicide Fruit. When Dante entered the wood during his journey through Hell, her tree form attacked him. After Dante subdued the attack, she identified herself, recounted the circumstances leading to her suicide, expressed remorse, and pleaded for absolution.

During this encounter, Bella emphasized the urgency of saving Beatrice. In the game adaptation, she lamented it was too late for her own redemption. The animated movie adaptation altered her dialogue to encourage Dante to focus on his own salvation, declaring only she was doomed. After Dante granted absolution, she bestowed upon him the Suicide Fruit magic and reiterated the need to rescue Beatrice. The movie explicitly depicted scenes of Alighiero's abuse – verbal assaults, physical slapping over missing coins, and severe beatings – illustrating the trauma preceding her suicide. Visual discrepancies between adaptations included her hair color changing from dark in some portrayals to blonde in flashbacks.