- The initiative arose from the fact that domestic violence is the second most reported crime in Colombia after the theft, and almost half of the cases of femicide in the country occur in rural areas.
- In 2020, 80 of the 185 femicides registered in the country took place in rural areas. So far in 2021, there have been 43 cases and 23 of them took place in those areas.
As part of the differential policy in the territories to meet the needs in matters of justice, the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, launched in Carlosama Cuaspud (Nariño), the new guideline to tackle domestic violence and all kinds of attacks against rural women.
The Attorney General indicated that it is “a historical directive for the benefit of women, families, rural women.” This crime is the second with the highest incidence in Colombia and that is why the tool establishes precise guidelines for the prosecution of this criminal phenomenon, in addition to unifying and updating essential aspects that must be taken into account in the investigation of cases.
With this directive, solid conceptual tools are also provided to investigators and prosecutors to approach in a comprehensive manner domestic violence processes, since guidelines are established to investigate in context and with a gender perspective and allow to determine whether the commission of domestic violence occurs due to discrimination, domination, subjugation, inequality or submission.
Likewise, this tool specifies the guidelines for the receipt of the denounce, assistance and guidance to victims of this crime, and it highlights the duty to apply the Risk Identification Form (Formato de Identificación del Riesgo) in order to prioritize cases in which relapse of the same crime can occur risk or femicide cases, especially in rural sectors.
The Attorney General Barbosa pointed out that the initiative aims not only at counteracting domestic violence but also the occurrence of femicides, giving women a voice in all territories, even in the most remote areas, since according to the results obtained in 2020 and 2021, almost half the cases of femicide attacks occur outside the cities.
In 2020, the Office of the Attorney General obtained progress in 178 cases of 185 femicides registered in the country, which means a clarification rate of 96%. In rural areas there were 80 victims, 74 of the cases show an advance in clarification, which means a rate of 93%. On the other hand, 105 cases were registered in urban areas and 104 show progress in clarification, which means a rate of 99%.
On the other hand, at the national, the institution has achieved 93% progress in the clarification of femicides in 43 cases that have been reported in 2021. In rural areas, 23 cases have been reported, 20 of them show progress in clarification, with a rate of 87%. In urban areas, 20 cases have been reported, all with progress in clarification, for a rate of 100%.
The Attorney General revealed important results produced by the Sectional Office in Nariño concerning the fight against gender violence since it achieved 100% in the clarification of cases of feminicide committed so far this year in the Department, such as:
- Multiple attacks in the municipality of Los Andes
The Office of the Attorney General charged Luis Carlos Zambrano Leyton with femicide, attempted femicide, aggravated double homicide, and illegal possession of firearms in facts that took place on March 6th in the rural area El Arenal in the municipality of Los Andes Sotomayor.
The evidence shows that the defendant allegedly attacked her former partner and three of her relatives, as he could not bear that the woman was in another relationship.
Due to the attacks, Geraldine Rosero Chala´s parents and brother died, and she was injured.
The defendant, who was arrested in flagrante delicto, did not plead guilty to the charges and was sentenced to prison.
- Femicide in Samaniego
In the municipality of Samaniego, Ever Erney Morales Benavides was prosecuted for the alleged commission of aggravated femicide. The investigation is related to facts committed on March 11th, when the man apparently attacked Diana Fernanda Morales Yela with a sharp weapon. She died because of multiple wounds in the chest.
The proceedings carried out by the CTI and Sijín-Police made it possible to identify the possible aggressor, who was the victim’s sentimental partner, and to carry out his arrest on March 12 at the hospital of that municipality, since he allegedly tried to commit suicide after attacking Morales Yela.
- Double femicide in La Unión
The Office of the Attorney General achieved the prosecution of Michel Jackson Hermosa Rivera, for his alleged responsibility in the murder of his former partner Yuri Andrea Bolaños Botina and her mother María Botina Ordóñez, as well as the attack against a young man on January 3rd in the rural area of the municipality of La Unión.
After approving the request made by the Office of the Attorney General, a judge issued a prison sentence against the alleged perpetrator of the crime, who will be charged with aggravated femicide, attempted aggravated homicide and manufacture, trafficking, possession of firearms. The defendant did not plead guilty to the charges.
The evidence collected by the investigators indicates that on the day of the facts the victims were riding a motorcycle when they were allegedly fired from a bush by Hermosa Rivera. The two women were given a coup de grace by the alleged aggressor and the man who was driving the vehicle survived.
- Femicide of a minor in Tablon de Gómez
By virtue of a court order, José Peregrino Ordóñez (49 years old) identified as the alleged perpetrator of the femicide of a 14-year-old girl, was arrested. The facts took place on January 8 in the municipality of Tablon de Gómez, where the victim was apparently intercepted by the defendant in a road and attacked her with a knife in various parts of her body causing her death.
The man, who was arrested by the Sijín when he was discharged from a medical center in the city of Pasto because he allegedly tried to commit suicide, was charged with aggravated femicide.
Other relevant cases
Likewise, the Sectional Office in Nariño made progress in the clarification of two homicides that occurred in isolated events in which victims were also women:
- Murder of the registrar in San Pablo
Brayan Alexander Mejía Peña was sent to prison for the aggravated murder of the registrar in the municipality of San Pablo, Karol Mabel Coral Moreno, perpetrated on December 11, 2020 in that population,
According to the investigations, the alleged attacker entered the premises of the Registry Office and shot the victim with a firearm when she was in the company of her sentimental partner.
Mejía Peña was brought before the Municipal Court of Belén, after his arrest on March 12.
- Woman murdered in Albán due to a loan
The crime of María Ayde Alpala Toro was clarified with the arrest and prosecution of Orlando León Arcos, as the alleged perpetrator. The person will be charged with aggravated murder and aggravated arson and drug trafficking.
The facts took place on December 17, 2020, in San Carlos neighborhood in the municipality Albán, where the alleged implicated person and another person threw a bottle of gasoline into the victim’s house and caused a fire.
The woman suffered severe burns in her face and parts of her body causing her death.
According to the investigations, the murder was apparently caused by the non-payment of a debt that the victim had acquired in the modality knows as “para diario” or “gota a gota” (pay off a debt little by little).
“I want to say here, in this rural area and to the populations that require the Prosecutor’s Office presence, that the Office of the Attorney General is obtaining results for the people of Nariño, peasant women, rural women, children and adolescents, in places that are also not protected for these large cities”, concluded the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa.
When we speak, results follow.
The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out the criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.