Four Merida police officers arrested for the rape and murder of young man
According to his mother's version, the young man died from injuries sustained after being arrested, beaten and raped by municipal police on July 22. She said that her son was walking in a park in the Yucatecan capital and a group of policemen stopped him because they thought he was suspicious.
The governor of Yucatan, Mauricio Vila, reported the capture of the municipal police officers of Merida, for their alleged participation in the rape and murder of the young Veracruz native Jose Eduardo Ravelo. Vila expressed his condolences to Ravelo's family and offered his government's support through the State Commission for Attention to Victims and the Yucatan State Attorney General's Office (FGE), which is investigating the facts.
The Attorney General's Office explained in a press release that elements of the State Investigation Police (PEI) of the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) executed arrest warrants against four individuals, for their probable participation in crimes that resulted in the death of the young man. The detainees were officers of the Merida Municipal Police at the time of the alleged acts.
On Friday, María Ravelo Echeverría, mother of the young man, carried the coffin with the remains of her son to the doors of the Government Palace of Yucatán and asked to be received by Governor Mauricio Vila. According to his mother's version, the young man died from injuries sustained after being arrested, beaten and raped by municipal police on July 22. She said that her son was walking in a park in the Yucatecan capital and a group of policemen stopped him because they thought he was suspicious.
After assaulting him in the patrol car, they took him to the police station, where they abused him again and tortured him.
At the time of giving his statement, José Eduardo Ravelo said that he felt sick, so he was examined by a doctor, who certified that the young man had been physically and sexually assaulted. He was immediately taken to a hospital, where it was found that he had a punctured lung and brain damage.
He was hospitalized in the Covid-19 area, due to the fact that he also presented symptoms compatible with the disease. He died on August 3. His mother denounced the police officers for the aggressions that resulted in the death of the young man. He had left his native Veracruz to move to Yucatan to get a job.
