Residents of a Mexican town decided to take justice into their own hands after catching three men accused of kidnapping and robbing a girl in the small town of Atzitzihuacán.
According to Mexican authorities, the lynching occurred during the afternoon on Dec. 7 in the community of San Juan Amenac. When officials arrived to the scene, the men were already dead.
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In a statement sent out by the Puebla government, officials confirmed that the three men "died after being detained and lynched by residents for the alleged robbery and kidnapping of a minor." They added that agencies are working to find out what exactly happened and reiterated that "any crime committed will be punished according to the laws in place."
Despite multiple reports involving the incident, the identity of the three men killed by the angry mob has not been revealed. Although no official reports have confirmed it, local media says the three men tried to kidnap a five-year-old girl.
Around 300 people reportedly participated in the lynching. Images shared on social media depict the bodies hanging off utility poles and with signs of torture.
Lynchings in Mexico
Civilians taking extreme approaches such as lynchings is not new in Mexico. Experts say the perception of impunity leads communities to take justice into their own hands.
According to data collected by doctors Raúl Rodríguez Guillén and Norma Ilse Veloz Ávila, political sociology faculty members at the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM), a total of 1,619 lynchings took place in Mexico between 2016 and 2022.
Although most cases are centralized in rural areas, the issue has quickly spread to more urban areas in Central Mexico. According to their research, 74% of all lynchings during that period took place in six states (Puebla, Estado de México, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Oaxaca and Mexico City).
In 2023 alone, 179 lynchings were reported throughout Mexico, according to data complied by the study "Horror Gallery: atrocities and huge impact events," out of which most of them took place in Puebla (27), Tlaxcala (24) and Hidalgo (23).
Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has previously stated that lynchings are "illicit acts" that are the representation of a self-distrust crisis that reflects the lack of trust within society towards authorities.
Recent incidents are an example of that mistrust, as residents of rural communities continue relying on vigilantism.
Earlier this year, in June, four men were lynched and then burned in the city of Atlixco, also in Puebla, by a crowd that accused them of stealing a vehicle.
A similar incident took place in the city of Taxco, Guerrero, when a woman accused of murdering an eight-year-old girl was lynched along two other men suspected by locals to be involved in the crime.
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