After a teenager of approximately 14 years old was sexually abused In Santiago de Cuba, officers of the National Revolutionary Police prevented citizens from taking justice into their own hands.
The events occurred on the night of this Tuesday, June 4, when the minor, between 14 and 15 years old, was at a party at the Reparto Artes y Oficios, in the capital of the province.
According to the journalist, Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, the girl is a resident of El Polvorín, a neighborhood located in the Reparto Chicharrones, also in Santiago de Cuba.
It was in this province, but in the Asunción district, where the rapist was captured, identified only by the nickname ‘Timba’, a prisoner who received permission to leave even though he was in prison for the same crime.
Due to the attack, the teenager had to be hospitalized, and the indignation of the people was such, especially because the attacker already had a criminal record, that when they found him they tried to lynch him, beating him and trying to tie him up to finish him off.
However, PNR officers arrived just in time to save the criminal, separating the angry crowd. Seeing that the people did not dissipate and continued to beat him, the police fired shots into the air as a warning, which ended up driving the crowd away.
The subject was arrested again and placed at the disposal of the authorities, but the people expressed their distrust because if he had already been arrested for another similar crime and they let him out, what guarantee does the population have that this will not happen again?
This without considering, furthermore, the promptness with which the authorities respond when it is the population that becomes violent, while when there are crimes or incidents, they may delay or not even appear to assist the population.
Exit permits or licenses are a controversial issue in Cuba, as multiple testimonies inside and outside prison indicate that these are sometimes granted in exchange for “snitching” to the regime, regardless of the seriousness of the charges against the prisoner, disguising the permission with which it was for “good behavior.”
Considering the multiple reports of rapes, homicides and femicides on the Island that are not even pursued, and with an evident increase in insecurity in the country, many users expressed that they would prefer to be sure that proven criminals are contained by the population and not by the government, which can release them without being held accountable.
“If there are many who have these crimes on their record, why aren’t they given an evaluation before releasing them? To see if they are really in a position to integrate into society without causing more problems. It’s not about letting them go because they already complied or giving them a pass, and in that they screw other people, or take another life, and as if nothing had happened,” said one user.
“And the police don’t let them hit him because that’s not done, from there they give him a few years and these things come out that cannot be tolerated”; “At once three patrol cars appeared; I had never seen such skill at the crime scene. And the police are now authorized to shoot”; “They don’t let people beat them up, it practically seems like they protect criminals. Now they give him a pass again and everything is as if nothing had happened. It is incredible what happens in this country,” were other comments.
