Mexico: Rape and Murder of 11-Year-Old Girl Sparks New Protests Against Femicide

Mexican activists organized a new round of marches Sunday against gender violence and femicide after the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl, while friends and neighbors joined the family for the victim's wake.

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The 11-year-old girl, identified as Valeria Teresa Gutierrez, was reported as missing June 8 and her body was found the next day inside a public bus in the municipality of Nezahualcoyotl, in the state of Mexico.

According to La Jornada, Valeria was wearing her school uniform when she left home, but she didn't return. She was found inside a bus on Route 40 with her feet tied, half naked and had signs of rape as her uniform was torn. Neighbors alerted police of a suspicious abandoned van on the street and authorities notified the parents.

The National Human Rights Commission said it was outraged over the suspected sexual assault, saying it "rejects this regrettable fact and emphasizes that any aggression and involvement of any kind against children and adolescents seriously damages the social environment and should not go unpunished."

"Mexican girls and boys march from the Municipal Palace in Neza (Nezahualcoyotl), Mexico state, to Valeria's wake."

The victim's mother told Sin Embargo her report about her daughter was ignored by authorities because "they were busy with their elections,” referring to the recent vote for the governorship in the state, which saw the left-wing Moreno party come close to wresting power from the President Enrique Peña Nieto's governing PRI party.

"They ignored us," said the mother in a video circulating social media. "She was an 11-year-old girl. We had to look for her. I demand with all my heart justice."

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The human rights commission also said that the when the victim's parents reported her disappearance it was not properly attended to by authorities.

The commission asked the attorney general's office and other authorities to carry out a "comprehensive, professional and exhaustive investigation, in order to prevent this issue from going unpunished."

A man has been taken into custody as the alleged perpetrator of the crime. The suspect, who already has several charges for sexual abuse in Mexico, was working as a driver.

On Saturday, hundreds of local residents organized a protest to demand justice for the murder. Feminist groups have repeatedly criticized President Enrique Peña Nieto for failing to address the problem of gender violence in the country.

In Mexico, as in much of the region, victims of femicide are often made invisible in a broader context of drug war violence and widespread corruption.

Amnesty International released a report in April revealing that over 14,000 women in the Latin American country are raped every year, noting that this figure could represent only 20 percent of actual cases, given that a vast majority are never reported.