The woman who had gone to trial for having murdered her partner, whose body was found dismembered in a house in the Buenos Aires city of Colón in 2019, was acquitted today by an oral court in Pergamino, which considered that the accused “defended herself “of the constant attacks of gender violence of which she was a victim.
“It is not true that he had another way out”, considered by the members of the Criminal Oral Court (TOC) 1 of Pergamino, when they acquitted Mafalda Beatriz Secreto (65) on the last day of the oral trial to which she was subjected for the murder of José Luis Arenas (60), found murdered on the 1st of June 2019 in a house located on Calle 11 between 50 and 51, in Colón.
In the sentence, which was released this past noon, the magistrates made direct reference to the situation of violence suffered by the woman, emphasizing that Arenas “controlled and disposed of Secreto’s life”, which “was blocked directly and indirectly”.
“The accumulation of evidence shows that Secreto, throughout his relationship with Arenas, tried at all times to satisfy his requirements and received constant mistreatment in response”described the TOC 1 of Pergamino, chaired by Judge Guillermo Mario Burrone and made up of Gladys Hamué and Alejandro Salguero.
In this regard, the court added that “Secreto suffered violence of all kinds, repeatedly, constantly and on the increase” and that he was in “a clear position of physical and mental inferiority with respect to his aggressor.”
In this context, the magistrates highlighted that the particularities of the case “required redefining the need for defensive action” and urged to “seek another type of resolution” to the one proposed by prosecutor Ignacio Uthurry, who in his arguments requested that Secreto be condemned. to 18 years in prison for “aggravated homicide by the couple’s relationship in a state of violent emotion”.
“The constant attacks that Secreto suffered generated a latent danger to its legal rights, so that, in this dangerous situation, it was possible to take defensive action at any time. Secreto used the only means available to him to end the attacks against him and protect his psychophysical integrity,” they concluded.
Upon hearing the acquittal verdict, the woman burst into tears and, once the hearing was over, she said: “I thank the judges who listened to me. Thanks to the justice system that listened to me. Because they paid attention to the gender perspective. It’s terrible what abused people suffer.”
“He used me in a thousand ways. Drug addiction, prostitution. If I had been in my right mind, I never would have done it. I had never touched a gun in my life, I would never have shot anyone. I feel so ashamed that I put my daughters and granddaughters in danger. Because I put them in danger by partnering with José, ”added Mafalda with tears in her eyes.
For her part, Secreto’s lawyer, Raquel Hermida Leyenda, said that although the Public Ministry “He tried to focus this case on Mafalda’s alleged decision to try to disappear the body” of her partner, what happened was “in the context of gender violence”.
“I had faith. Mafalda’s behavior was the only one she could have to defend herself. This situation was completely exceptional,” he stressed.
In turn, the lawyer urged victims of gender violence to “report what they are going through” and added that this ruling gives “jurisprudence in favor of women.”
“I dedicate myself to generating new jurisprudence that benefits each of the women. Each of the sentences I acquire are for multiplication. We all know that Mafalda can be all of us. We will try to avoid it and make the complaints accompanied.
During the arguments, Hermida Leyenda asked TOC 1 to absolve the woman since she was the victim of constant aggression by the murdered man, which the judges finally failed.
Arenas’ body was found on June 1, 2019 in a house located on Calle 11 between 50 and 51, in Colón, a town located 50 kilometers from Pergamino.
According to the investigation, Secreto went to his brother’s house that morning to tell him that he had murdered his partner and that he needed help to dispose of the body.
Hours later, The man went to the local police station to report the murder to the police.
Faced with this situation, the officers went to the house of the complainant’s sister and found the woman, who recognized the fact, for which she was transferred to the sectional, while the experts found Arenas’s body in a shed located in the bottom of the land, covered with the canvas of a pool.
The body was face down and dismembered, since the lower limbs were missing from the knee, and the right arm from the elbow, and also had a bullet in the right maxilla that, according to the autopsy, was what caused him death.
