Ecuador shows its indignation one year after the feminicide of María Belén Bernal

Cries of indignation echoed this Monday in Quito one year after the femicide of Maria Belen Bernala terrible case of sexist violence perpetrated in a police precinct by her husband, an officer sentenced to more than 34 years in prison, a sentence that does not calm the victim’s mother.

With a torchlight demonstration, feminist and human rights groups walked through the streets of the capital of Ecuador in a “light march” that arrived at the very doors of the General Police Commandguarded by a strong picket of agents and protective fences.

LOOK HERE: “The only thing my daughter did was love you, why did you kill her?”: the unanswered questions of María Belén Bernal’s mother

Elizabeth OtavaloBernal’s mother, led the protest: “We are outraged that they kill us and the State does nothing, we are outraged that women are mutilated, decapitated and buried and the State is indolent.”.

Activists, feminist and human rights groups participate in a “march of light”, on September 11, 2023, in Quito, Ecuador, for the feminicide of lawyer María Belén Bernal. (Photo by José Jácome / EFE)

She referred to a recent case of femicide against a nurse viciously murdered by a man who dismembered her and buried her in a city park.

“Stop!“Otavalo exclaimed energetically as he repeated that his daughter’s is one of the hundreds of femicides that are committed every year, many of which have gone unpunished.

The one of Maria Belen Bernal It was one of the 332 femicides recorded in Ecuador in 2022, according to the Latin American Association for Alternative Development (Aldea), which records data on sexist violence in Ecuador.

Otavalo told EFE that the feminist and human rights groups that demand “justice and truth“has no other way of expressing itself other than protest, in the face of the passivity of a State that has not been able to guarantee security in the country.

He also advocated “the orphans of femicide“, hundreds to whom the State has not provided care either, as is the case of his grandson Isaacson of Bernal.

MORE INFORMATION: Who was María Belén Bernal, the lawyer who was found dead after disappearing at a Police school in Ecuador

And although Cáceres, the confessed murderer of his daughter, has received the maximum possible sentence in Ecuador for femicide, Otavalo assured that the case still remains unpunished due to the suspicion that there are more people responsible for the crime.

“My daughter was killed inside a police school, a public institution, at the hands of German Caceresan acting police officer” at the time of the crime, he recalled, pointing out that it was in that police precinct where the murder was perpetrated.

Activists, feminist and human rights groups participate in a “march of light”, on September 11, 2023, in Quito, Ecuador, for the feminicide of lawyer María Belén Bernal. (Photo by José Jácome / EFE)

In addition, he said that there are many doubts about the participation of other people. “How they removed the body” from the police complex and “no one saw anything?!“, he asked himself.

Otavalo also recriminated the government of the conservative ruler Guillermo Lassowhich he described as “indolent”, but he demanded a firm position on his case from whoever succeeds him in the presidential elections on October 15.

The runner Luisa Gonzalez and the businessman Daniel Noboa They will compete for the Presidency of the country in a second electoral round (ballot election).

“Anyone who comes (to power) has to wear the shirt of pain” of the victims, Otavalo added during the walk, in which several groups exhibited dances and choirs against femicide.

“Not one less, we love each other alive” the activists shouted as they passed in front of the Police Commandwhere they held a sit-in, illuminated by the glow of dozens of torches.

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María Belén Bernal disappeared in the early morning of September 11, 2022 when she went to visit Cáceres in the Police Higher Schoolto the north of Quitowhere he served as a cadet instructor.

According to investigations, Cáceres killed Bernal in the room he had in that police precinct and then disposed of the body, which was found ten days later on a wild hill near the place.

Cáceres, who received a police discharge, fled the country and was captured in Colombia by the Colombian authorities who returned him to Ecuador.

Source: Elcomercio