Women spray ‘blood’ on door of Mexico presidential palace after papers publish pic of murdered wife’s ‘skinned’ body
ANGRY women covered Mexico’s presidential palace with ‘blood red paint’ during a protest over the murder and mutilation of a young woman.
The Valentine's Day demonstration was sparked by the killing of Ingrid Escamilla, 25, in Mexico City and graphic photos of her “stabbed, skinned and dismembered” corpse published in newspapers.
Demonstrators then marched through heavy rain to the offices of newspaper La Prensa to protest against the publication of the gruesome images.
Angry women daubed the words "femicide state" in blood-red on the palace, while one woman spray-painted "INGRID" in big pink letters.
Other painted slogans including "they are killing us" were emblazoned on the building's walls, while protesters fired flames from cans of flammable spray-paint.
Outside La Prensa’s officers, the demonstrators burned vehicles belonging to employees and briefly clashed with security forces who prevented them from entering the newspaper's offices.
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, said on Twitter that it condemned the killing of Escamilla.
'ANGER AND RAGE'
Lilia Florencio Guerrero, whose daughter was violently killed in 2017, called on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was inside the palace during the protests, to do more to stop the violence.
"It's not just Ingrid. There are thousands of femicides," said Guerrero. "It fills us with anger and rage."
La Prensa, which ran the image on its cover, defended its record of reporting on crime and murder, subjects that it said the government prefers to keep quiet.
The paper said it was open to discussion on adjusting its standards beyond legal requirements, with a statement on Friday’s front-page reading: "We understand today that it hasn't been sufficient, and we've entered a process of deeper review."
Inside the stately palace, where Lopez Obrador lives with his family, the president attempted to reassure the activists during his morning news conference.
"I'm not burying my head in the sand ... The government I represent will always take care of ensuring the safety of women," he said, without giving details of new plan.
GRUESOME KILLING
Ingrid Escamilla's husband Erik Francisco Robledo, 46, has been identified as the suspect by the press in Mexico.
Footage shows Robledo in a car with his head bandaged and blood on his chest while he reportedly talks to a policeman.
Robledo admitted to peeling her skin off and removing many of her organs, saying: “We started to argue and we fought. She said she wanted to kill me and I said do it."
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RISING FEMICIDE RATES
Femicide, the killing of women, has been rising in Mexico with 700 cases under investigation - with an average of 10 women per day across the country.
Figures show that 3,142 women were killed in Mexico from January to November 2019, but activists in Mexico say that too few murders are classified as femicide.
