Peasant patrols torture and banish eight women accused of witchcraft in Peru

MADRID, 10 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Peasant self-defense groups in the Peruvian department of La Libertad, north of Lima, have captured eight women accused of witchcraft, tortured them and later released them on the condition that they leave their community. The authorities are already investigating what happened.

The president of the Central Única Nacional de Rondas Campesinas de La Libertad, Pablo Haro, explained in statements to the RPP radio station that the women admitted having practiced witchcraft against people from Carhuacocha, in the town of Chillia, province of Pataz, and promised to leave. the district.

"There are eight. I have already spoken with the district president. Two have already been released. They have made a commitment: that they will also withdraw from the town. They themselves have made their declaration, they have been intervened there for witchcraft practices" , has reported.

Irene de la Cruz Castillo, one of the detainees, would have been punished without finding evidence of her participation in the act, as reported by her nephew, Iván Pinedo Escudero. "Supposedly they caught a lady doing the act of sorcery. However, that lady implicates my aunt and the patrol retained her without having any evidence. They have met and have decided to have 20 more days in the ronderil chain, where my relative is being very beaten," he denounced.

The president of the peasant patrols of the district of Chillia, Manuel Quijano, has held a meeting with the Police to verify the spaces of the communal bases where these women would have been tortured.

Regarding the accusations of sorcery, Quijano has argued that it is a communal decision in an assembly made after several families denounced being victims of sorcery practices.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) has announced an investigation into what happened in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior and the Ombudsman's Office "so that these events are clarified and those responsible are punished."

"The services of the MIMP will receive and continue to provide support to women who have been violated, guaranteeing their physical integrity and their rights. The Women's Emergency Centers (CEM) in Pataz and Trujillo are on alert and in close coordination with the authorities of the region to welcome and accompany the victims," ​​he said. "We expect a thorough and speedy investigation," said Minister Diana Miloslavich.