Argentina rocked by femicide case as protests erupt over killings of girl and two young women
Authorities say a Peruvian gang orchestrated the crime; five suspects arrested, with the gang’s leader at large; protests in Buenos Aires demand justice.
Thousands of people marched in Buenos Aires on Saturday to demand justice for 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez and 20-year-olds Morena Verdi and Brenda del Castillo, whose killings have shocked Argentina. Rights groups organized the demonstration under the banner 'There are no good or bad victims, only femicide.'
Police say the killings were carried out by a drug-trafficking gang and were livestreamed on social media as a warning to others. Investigators say the victims were lured into a van on 19 September under the pretense of going to a party; the killings were part of a plan to punish the girls for violating gang codes. Five suspects—three men and two women—were arrested as of Friday, according to National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, but a 20-year-old Peruvian man described as the group's leader remains at large. Authorities recovered a video after a detainee cooperated, and a photograph of the alleged mastermind has been released.
The bodies of Gutierrez, Verdi and Del Castillo were found buried on Wednesday in the yard of a house in a southern suburb of Buenos Aires, five days after they went missing.
Relatives and rights groups joined a demonstration outside Parliament on Saturday, calling for accountability. "Women must be protected more than ever," Brenda del Castillo's father, Leonel, told reporters at the protest. He had earlier said it was impossible to identify his daughter's body due to the abuse inflicted on her. Antonio del Castillo, Brenda's grandfather, cried as he described the killers as 'bloodthirsty' and said, "You wouldn't do what they did to them to an animal."
In Buenos Aires, femicide remains a pressing concern: a monitoring group says one woman is killed by a man every 36 hours in Argentina, a statistic cited by Agence France-Presse. National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said five suspects have been arrested, and the investigation continues as authorities pursue the group's leader who remains at large.