Cops arrest COUPLE for killing girl, 7, who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered sparking protests in Mexico
A COUPLE has been arrested for the murder, kidnap and torture of schoolgirl Fatima Cecelia Aldrighett – sparking mass protests across Mexico.
The seven-year-old was snatched from her school gates by a stranger and later found dead, tortured and wrapped in plastic .
Mexican police confirmed they arrested two suspects – a man and a woman – after CCTV footage revealed the female suspect walking along the street hand-in-hand with the young girl.
Little Fatima had been waiting for her mum to collect her from her school in the central Mexican capital Mexico City, but she was led away by Gladis Giovana Cruz Hernandez.
Ms Hernandez and a male suspect, Mario Alberto Reyes Najera, were arrested in a village in the state of Mexico by local police and officers of the National Guard.
They were identified after a reported raid on a house in the municipality of Xochimilco in Mexico City where the female suspect lived.
During the raid on Tuesday, officers reportedly found blood marks and clothes that belonged to the little girl as well as documents linked to her parents.
Ulises Lara López, spokesman for the Mexico City’s Attorney General’s office, said investigators found finger prints, stains and personal documents belonging to both suspects at the apartment.
CONNECTIONS TO THE CRIME
The two suspects were in a romantic relationship, according to evidence found in the property, local media reported.
It is also believed that the couple used to live in a property that was owned by the victim’s family, meaning it is likely that the girl knew the woman when she picked her up from school.
The girl’s mother Maria Magdalena Anton reportedly met Cruz Hernandez at a party and she ended up living in the home for a short period.
Cruz Hernandez lived ten minutes from the Enrique Rebsamen Elementary School where Fatima was taken and has two children who also attend the same school, El Universal reports.
Prosecutors said the case is being investigated as a femicide.
The suspects have been sent to undergo medical tests before appearing in front of the judge who ordered their arrest.
Fatima was reported as missing on Tuesday 11th February and her body was found in the municipality of Tlahuac inside a rubbish bag in a wheelie bin four days later, according to local media.
But authorities lost a full day in the search for because they waited for a formal missing-person case file to be opened.
The cause of the girl’s death is yet to be released and the investigation continues.
‘FEMICIDE STATE’
The lower house of Mexico’s Congress held a moment of silence Tuesday for Fatima, whose case has sparked a wave of protests and outrage.
Congress also signed off on an increase in prison sentences for crimes of femicide and sexual abuse of minors.
Lawmakers voted to increase the sentence for femicide to 45 to 65 years in prison, up from a range of 40 to 60 years.
They also have their approval to toughen penalties for sexual abuse of minors to 10 to 18 years, up from six to 13 years.
The proposals will be sent to the Senate.
Protester also took to the city’s streets, marching from president’s house to the offices of La Presna, the newspaper that published the gruesome image.
The furious demonstrators daubed the walls of Mexico’s national palace in blood-red paint, scrawling “femicide state”.
Ten women are killed a day in Mexico and victims of femicide are on the up.
The senseless killing sparked huge protests across Mexico after 25-year-old student, ingrid Escamilla was stabbed to death and skinned by her husband.
The horrific murders happened just two days apart.
Protests have swept Mexico City, with activists branding signs with the girls’ faces on and the hashtag #JuticiaParaFatima, meaning Justice for Fatima became a top global trend.
Forensic workers leaked pictures of Ingrid Escamilla’s corpse to the press sparking outrage as the rate of violent crime against women continues to rise in the country.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has insisted the spiralling epidemic of violence against women in the country is down to: “A progressive degradation that has to do with the neo-liberal model”.
He also blamed “social, family problems” and called the incident a “social disease”.
Critics say he is blaming his predecessors for Mexico’s issues instead of using his time in office to “prove he is different”.
In his first year as President, femicide rose by ten per cent.