Family and friends attend the funeral of an eight-year-old girl. Photo: Jose Luis de la Cruz/Shutterstock
Residents in a Mexican city lynched a woman they believed was involved in the murder of an eight-year-old girl after police arrested three people on suspicion of involvement in the child's murder.
The girl disappeared from the tourist town of Taxco on Wednesday and her body was found on a highway the next day.
She became the victim of financial kidnapping after reports that her family received anonymous phone calls demanding ransom.
Locals immediately suspected the man and woman of being involved in the crime after CCTV footage showed them being loaded. a black bag in which the body is believed to have been placed was placed in the trunk of a car.
On Thursday, residents blocked one of Taxco's main streets and gathered outside the house where a woman and two men were, demanding justice. .
Beat with sticks
They pulled out three, doused them with gasoline and beat them with sticks.
The video shows dozens of people kicking and punching the woman, who was wearing nothing but blue jeans. Her body then goes limp and she is left lying in the street, her face obscured by a mass of hair and blood.
Another video shows a crowd yanking a man from police custody. Troopers pull a man from the back of a police truck and throw him to the ground. People then take turns kicking and punching him, with little resistance from the police.
The woman died and the two men were hospitalized.
The Guerrero state prosecutor's office said Sunday that the man and the minor were arrested on Saturday “for the crime of femicide” along with another man the day before on similar charges. They did not specify whether this included the men who were attacked by the mob.
A woman shouts the Spanish word for “justice.” during a demonstration to protest the abduction and murder of an eight-year-old girl. Photo: Fernando Llano/AP
Evelyn Salgado, the governor of Guerrero, said Friday on X, earlier on Twitter: “I stand in solidarity with the family [of the minor], the future cannot be understood without justice.”
A two-hour drive from Mexico City is the silver-mining town of Taxco, popular among tourists for its cobblestone streets and centuries-old architecture. Old Volkswagen beetles ply the roads like taxis, and in the center stands the beautiful peach-colored Santa Prisca Church.
However, the city's magical appearance belies its criminal reputation. In January, the United States banned its government employees from visiting the city.
It came amid a days-long strike by private taxi and van drivers threatened by one of several drug gangs vying for control of the city. region. The situation was so bad that police had to give people rides in patrol cars.
Around the same time, the bullet-riddled bodies of two detectives were found on the outskirts of Taxco. Local media reported that their bodies bore signs of torture.
Protesters used overturned cars to block streets after the child was killed. Credit : JOSE LUIS DE LA CRUZ/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Five people disappeared from the city in November, including three journalists who were later released unharmed.
Kidnappings and murders are a daily occurrence in Mexico, although the victims most often are adult men, making the death of a young girl especially shocking.
Regular lynchings
Lynchings of alleged criminals occur regularly, which experts attribute to widespread belief. impunity.
A report by researchers from the Autonomous University of Mexico found that 1,423 lynchings were recorded between 2016 and 2022.
“This is the result of the bad government we have,” said Mafia member on Thursday. “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened,” she said, referring to the girl’s murder, “but this is the first time people have done something.”
“We’re sick of us,” she added. she. “This time it was an 8-year-old girl.”
Mario Figueroa, the mayor of Taxco, whose bulletproof car was gunned down by gunmen on motorcycles in February, said he shared residents' outrage over the killing, adding that his The small, outnumbered municipal police force has not received the assistance it needs from the state government.
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