Human rights activists in Mexico have reacted with fury after a man accused of sexually abusing an eight-year old girl was ordered to buy the victim’s father two crates of beer as compensation.
The perpetrator, identified as a 55-year-old former pastor, was given the sanction after the victim’s parents complained to the municipal government in Santiago Quetzalapa, a remote indigenous community without road access or cellular phone coverage some 450km south-east of Mexico City.
He was only arrested after local media coverage of the fine prompted widespread outrage in the state. In a statement to the Guardian, the Oaxaca state attorney general’s office said that police arrested a man on Friday morning on charges of aggravated rape.
The case has highlighted both Mexico’s poor record at investigating sexual crimes, and a unique form of government in Oaxaca state, where many indigenous communities are ruled by an idiosyncratic system popularly known as usos y costumbres (“traditions and customs”).
Helder Palacios, editorial director of the Ruta 135 website which initially reported the case, said that Santiago Quetzalapa has a history of abuses which have been handled locally and not attracted the attention of outside authorities.
“There are cases in which there was impunity, there’s no investigation and local prosecutors never receive a criminal complaint,” he said.
The system is supposed to enshrine the traditions of local populations in a state with diverse indigenous populations, but it has been criticised for allowing local leaders to settle disputes according to their own beliefs rather than the written law.
Source: the Guardian UK
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