Prosecutor’s Office opens a preliminary investigation against police officers for alleged sexual assault against a minor in Popayán

The Office of the Attorney General of the Nation opened a preliminary inquiry against members of the National Police to establish, for alleged retention and sexual assault on a minor under 17 years of age, within the facilities of the Immediate Reaction Unit (URI), in the city of Popayán – Cauca.

The members of the Police will be investigated by the Public Ministry in a preliminary process to achieve the identification of the alleged perpetrator of the offense that is accused with the pertinent collection of evidence.

After confirming or denying the involvement of the person, a filing process is carried out, in order not to advance or to do so with the opening of the official investigation.

Attorney Margarita Cabello Blanco, appointed as a special official to lead this disciplinary process to the Delegate for the Public Force and the Judicial Police, thanks to the significance of the events as a possible violation of the fundamental rights of girls and adolescents.

Additionally, the National Directorate of Special Investigations of the entity will carry out tests to establish the identity of the alleged perpetrators of the conduct, determine the circumstances of time, manner and place, obtain evidence and assess the origin of the investigation.

The complaint indicates that four police officers took a 17-year-old girl to the Popayán URI on the night of May 12 and subsequently sexually assaulted her. The next day it was reported that the minor had taken her own life. For now, the Police have issued a statement stating that it is an “infamous lie.”

The Brigadier General, Ricardo Augusto Alarcón Campos, regional commander of the Policeman number four called the information false and gave details of what, according to them, happened.

The officer said that “the minor never stepped on police facilities, on the contrary, once the facts are known, the minor is transferred to the facilities of the URI of the Attorney General’s Office of the Nation. Once it is established that she is a minor, the protection protocol for the integrity of this type of population is activated. Contact is made with their relatives and is delivered in optimal conditions to the maternal grandmother at 10:51 p.m.”