QCOSTARICA – The autopsy of the two-year old, killed on Monday in Los Chiles, Alajuela, revealed the child had been repeatedly beaten and tortured with needles.
The abuse was the cause of the toddler’s death
Gerald Campos, interim director of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), said the toddler suffered several months of abuse, the medical examiner finding seven needles inserted in the abdomen. The official described the act by young mother and the child’s stepfather as “brutal”.
The director said that in the report that the child had internal bleeding and that for the pancreas to be injured, the child had to hae received a heavy blow.
Campos explained that while the main suspect in the beating, torture and abuse is the stepfather, the mother is also linked, either in the assaults or in hiding the actions of her partner.
“We‘re talking about a defenseless child, where people in charge of their care had to ensure their protection and found the opposite,” he said.
Police are asking the public to report cases of sexual assault or child abuse, either through the 911 emergency line by line or confidential information OIJ 800-8000-645; or by email cicooij@poder-judicial.go.cr.
The couple were arrested Tuesday. The stepfather, identified by his last name, Icabalceta, was ordered to four months preventive detention while the investigation continues. The young mother, only 17, identified by her last name Mendoza, was ordered to two months preventive detention by the Juzgado Penal Juvenil de Los Chiles (juvenile Court).
(Via Nacion.com)
The couple, both originally from Nicaragua, have another child, a five month old which is no in the custody of the chile welfare agency, the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI).
