RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A woman died Saturday afternoon, March 27, after being subdued by police officers in Tulum, a Mexican Caribbean resort frequented by international tourists, local authorities reported Sunday.
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The prosecutor’s office of the state of Quintana Roo, where Tulum is located, said in a statement that it “initiated an investigation into the homicide of a victim whose identity is not known.
The agency added that forensic experts are trying to identify the cause of death while municipal police are being investigated for what happened.
According to Mexican press reports, the woman was arrested because residents had denounced her for public disorder.
Human rights organizations speak of a clear case of extreme police violence. The brutal event triggered a wave of angry protest in the country.
In videos circulating on social networks, four agents, three men, and a woman can be seen standing next to the patrol car and holding the arrested woman on the ground. At the same time, the heaviest of them all applies excessive force.
After a short time, the woman can be heard screaming and begging as the police officers keep subduing her with merciless harshness. In one of the recordings, the woman is seen motionless under the agents’ and witnesses’ gaze, some of whom were capturing the incident with their cell phone cameras.
Meanwhile, another video shows the moment in which the police officers put the woman’s body into a pick-up truck.
In a press release, the local Human Rights Commission said that it filed an ex officio complaint against the public security agents of Tulum for “violations to the human right to life”.
It added that although the corresponding investigation has yet to be carried out, “any deprivation of life is regrettable and condemnable, even more so when dealing with people who constitutionally have an obligation to respect, guarantee, protect and promote human rights”.
This case has been compared to the one in the United States last year, where George Floyd, an African American, died after being captured and subdued by the police.
With information from El Salvador