Different groups of women demonstrated this Friday in Mexico City to demand that the sentence of six years and two months against Roxana Ruiz be reversed, for murdering her rapist in self-defense.
The contingent marched from the Glorieta de las Mujeres que Chann to the one with the emblematic Angel of Independence, both located on the main avenue of the Mexican capital Paseo de la Reforma.
The women shouted slogans and raised different banners and posters, mainly demanding justice, with messages such as: “Defending my life is not a crime”, “Roxana you are brave, never a criminal” and “You are not alone”, among others.
In May 2021, Ruiz suffocated his sexual offender, for which he received a sentence of just over six years considering that he committed a “simple homicide with defense abuse”, in addition to reparation to the family of his rapist above of the 285,000 pesos (about 16,014 dollars).
The judicial process led her to spend nine months in a Mexican prison and now she demands justice and her acquittal, as she stated in a public message that “it was not my fault for what happened to me, I did not ask to be raped, I did not ask that this guy assaulted me, I think no woman should go through this.” “I ask for justice not only for myself, but for all women. We know that there are 10 femicides per day, that is approximately in the country, â€she commented through a loudspeaker.
In addition, two years after this event, Ruiz, with tears in his eyes and a sharp voice, asked for justice “to continue with my life.” “I want to continue with my life, I want to continue free and without fear,” he added.
In the morning, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced from his conference at the National Palace that he is analyzing granting a pardon to Ruiz. However, his defense attorney, Ãngel Carrera, specified that this would lead Roxana to admit this excess of her self-defense, as a judge ruled on May 15, 2021.
“We consider that the pardon would be equivalent to a pardon and forgiveness would have to accept Roxana that she committed the act, the truth is that Roxana is innocent, she did not commit the act, so we will continue on our legal route, exhausting the resources that the law gives us. allows”, informed his defense.
One of the participants in the march in the Mexican capital, Elisa MartÃnez, told EFE that this case “gives courage and impotence because the State is always merciless with us women, they try to criminalize us when all Roxana wanted to do was defend his life”.
“That Roxana be acquitted, she is not a criminal, she saved her life, she has a little one and she is not giving him the care he requires,” the interviewee asked.
Beatriz Maldonado, director of the Mujeres Unidas por la Libertad association, which brings together women who have passed through the Mexican penitentiary system, said that “not only is Roxana there, we also have many women who committed the same crime and were not as lucky as Roxana.” .
He said that the justice he has received is “unfair because if Roxana had not defended herself, then the dead one would have been her and it would have been one more number on the list of femicides.” Maldonado affirmed that it is part of “a patriarchal system” that gives priority to men over women.
Jessica, from the Cause Ciudadano Mujeres Foundation, noted that there are more than 11,000 women who are deprived of their liberty. She pointed out that this case can cite a clear precedent so that more women who are in the same legal situation can have access to a process with a gender perspective and do not continue to be criminalized, with arbitrary acts and injustices.
