Relatives demand freedom for Mexican woman who killed her rapist

Relatives of Roxana Ruiz, originally from Oaxaca, south of Mexico, on Monday asked for freedom for the 21-year-old girl, who is in prison accused of having killed her rapist and who had a scheduled hearing that was not finally held.

“She only defended herself, and if she hadn’t defended herself, she would have been the dead one. In fact, he had threatened her that he was going to kill her,”Ana Ruiz, Roxana’s mother, told EFE.

The young woman went this Friday to the court of the Nezahualcóyotl Bordo de Xochiaca penitentiary, in the southeast of the Mexican capital, where her lawyer was going to present evidence, but finally the hearing was not held because Ruiz had asked for a translator and he did not arrive, for what the judge postponed the appointment for the 14 of September.

Her family members gathered outside the court to demand the freedom of Roxana, who last May was allegedly raped and threatened with death for which she defended herself and allegedly suffocated her attacker.

On May 8, she went with some acquaintances to go out for a drink. When she was going to leave, a man appeared whom she knew very little but who offered to accompany her to her house, who once there, asked her to let him stay the night because he lived far away, her mother and sister-in-law, Sarahí told Efe Mejía.

“He did what anyone else would, he would reach out to someone. Perhaps her mistake was being very trusting,” said Mejía.

Later, according to Roxana on previous occasions, he climbed on her bed and raped her. He also told her that he would kill her, so she managed to reach a shirt and suffocated him.

According to a letter, she decided to remove the body in a bag and at that moment the police arrested her.

“I think this boy misinterpreted things and thought that Roxana did it with another intention but the one who had another intention was really him,” explained Mejía.

This Monday the release of evidence was scheduled, in which the lawyer Abigail Escalante, the fourth lawyer to take her case, would present evidence in favor of Roxana before the investigation phase closes on October 13.

“We hope to show that there was legitimate defense and that everything works out in her favor,” Ruiz’s sister-in-law said.

While the investigation continues, Roxana’s relatives ask Mexican society to continue supporting them so that the authorities can see “the injustice” that is being committed.

“She is not the first nor will she be the last woman who is going to go through this, so that there is no more injustice for women who defend themselves against their aggressor,” Mejía concluded.

More than ten women are murdered in the country every day.

For this reason, since 2019, the feminist movement has been growing in the Latin American country, with large mobilizations and the presence of radicalized groups, while López Obrador has come to accuse the right of being behind the protests.