Residents of Puebla town lynch and burn alive falsely accused man for kidnapping

Residents of the community of Papatlazolco (Huauchinango, Puebla) lynched and burned a young political adviser on Friday night. His name was Daniel Picazo, he was 31 years old and was originally from the area, to which he liked to return from time to time.

The family says that he must have gotten lost among the communities of Huauchinango, where he was intercepted by a mob of people who ended his life. The neighbors, according to local media reports, stated that he was prowling around with a van, accompanied by another person and that he intended to take a minor. The authorities have not taken this version for granted, which is usually the reason argued by those who have lynched previously on numerous occasions.

Some locals have pointed out that the rumor had spread in the community through WhatsApp messages that there were people with the intention of stealing children in the area, for which they urged to protect their families. Word spread that they were trying to get a minor into Picazo’s van and everyone organized to stop them. The person traveling with him was able to escape. The young advisor to the deputy of the State of Mexico – was beaten and taken to the sports fields where they tied him up, doused him with gasoline, and burned him alive, according to the local press. Police and health personnel came to the site, but the local inhabitants prevented them from passing and, when they finally had access, nothing could be done for him.

The victim’s sister has left a tweet on social networks: “I chose my favorite photo to say goodbye to you, finding out how they took your life causes me the greatest revulsion towards people who unfairly did it without knowing you were a professional, a lover of travel and life, with a bright future, fly very high my Dany, I trust that God will do justice to all those people who clipped your wings… just for being in the wrong time and place. You enjoyed your short life as you liked best, rest in peace Daniel Picazo.

Lynchings are not unusual in Mexico, where some communities take justice into their own hands when they are victims of or suspect a crime. They are generally isolated populations where justice is slow to arrive or never arrives and in some cases, an unfortunate event ends up having terrible consequences due to the mobs that organize to take revenge. There are also kidnappings of people for whom they ask for ransom or hanging simulations, for example.

In the case of Huauchinango, it is unknown if there are detainees, the Prosecutor’s Office is already on the matter. Sometimes, these populations are used to imparting justice following their uses and customs with little or no adjustment to the rule of law. The most terrible manifestations of these false traditions are lynchings.

The City Council condemned what happened and defended the legal procedures to combat crimes: “We will always act in accordance with the law since justice by one’s own hand is not justice, but barbarism,” they said.

By Carmen Brena, originally published on El Pais

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