Residents of Taxco lynch a woman accused of the kidnapping and murder of an eight-year-old girl

A woman died this Thursday after being lynched by residents of Taxco, in the State of Guerrero, southern Mexico. The deceased was the main suspect in the kidnapping and murder of Camila Gómez, an eight-year-old girl. The beating attack against the alleged kidnapper and two accomplices was captured by media cameras. The woman died after being helped by police and elements of the National Guard, and transferred to a hospital in the area. Local reporters report that the other two people were also admitted.

The lynching occurred after dozens of residents blocked the main avenue of the city, of 105,000 inhabitants, and gathered outside the woman's house to demand her arrest. Ministerial agents explained that they did not have an order and that they could not complete the rest. The protesters overturned a couple of vehicles and broke the fence of around twenty police officers to remove the crime suspects from the house. The three people were attacked with blows, kicks and sticks.

The mayor, Mario Figueroa, said that the people who were detained will be made available to the authorities. The girl Camila Gómez was reported missing on Wednesday in the La Florida neighborhood and found dead in the early hours of this Thursday. The first versions suggest that the minor was kidnapped by a couple aboard a taxi in an alley. Shortly after the discovery was announced, neighbors and acquaintances of the victim began the protest.

Residents of Taxco participate in a lynching of those allegedly responsible for the feminicide of a minor. darkroom

Figueroa attributed the lynching to the fact that the municipal forces only have around 40 police officers and that they did not receive support from the authorities of the State of Guerrero. Part of the agents had been deployed to accompany an Easter procession, the municipal president said. The mayor celebrated that there was a strong presence of tourists in the city, famous for its colonial architecture and the silver trade, and ruled out canceling the religious celebrations in an interview with ADN 40. “We are going through a situation that we are correcting,” he said. Figueroa, by rejecting that there was a crisis of insecurity and violence.

Taxco was paralyzed in January by organized crime. La Familia Michoacana and Los Tlacos, two criminal groups that operate in the area, threatened public transportation operators. Transportation service was suspended, school classes were canceled and several businesses closed for fear of crime. Also this year, the murder of police officers, the kidnapping of journalists and municipal workers, and a shooting attack against Figueroa have been reported. The politician defended that the situation had already been normalized. “The country is engulfed in flames, but we do not blame others, we are going to take responsibility,” he said. Figueroa asked for more support from the state and federal government to control security.

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