Brazil remains shocked by the violent murder of Venezuelan artist Julieta Hernández Martínez, 38, who was found dead on Friday on the side of a river, after being sexually raped, hanged and buried.
The Venezuelan woman’s body was found last Friday on the outskirts of the town of Presidente Figueiredo after two weeks of searching, as confirmed by the civil police of the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
Those responsible for the feminicide were identified by the authorities as Deliomara dos Anjos Santos, 29 years old, and Thiago Agles da Silva (32).
As explained by the person in charge of the Interactive Police Station (DIP, for its acronym in Portuguese), it all started when Da Silva tried to steal the artist’s cell phone. She resisted, they struggled, he strangled her, threw her to the ground and asked Deliomara to tie her feet. “He then dragged her to the house, asked her wife to turn off the lights and began to sexually abuse the victim,” said Commissioner Valdinei Silva.
According to the officer, after the wife witnessed the incident, she poured alcohol on both of them and set them on fire. Da Silva managed to put out the fire with a damp cloth and went to a hospital to receive medical attention and in the meantime his wife hung the young woman with a rope and then buried her in her backyard.
At the press conference, the authorities explained that the victim was found thanks to the report of a local resident who saw parts of a bicycle and called the police. Now, the detainees will have to answer for the crimes of hiding a corpse, robbery and rape.
The Venezuelan artist Julieta Hernández had lived for several years in São Paulo, where she was part of the feminist collective ‘Circo di SóLadies’, a theater company in which she performed as Payasa Jujuba.
The case has sparked a wave of indignation throughout the country and also in Venezuela, calling for “exemplary punishment” for the murder of the young woman. Both the group to which Hernández belonged and others have called for protest marches against what happened.
