The North Metropolitan Regional Ombudsman (DRMN) reported the acquittal of a woman of Haitian nationality accused of causing the death of her partner, in a case in which it was stated that the defendant suffered constant gender-based violence and lived in Chile in conditions of considerable vulnerability. In the resolution, issued by the Fourth Oral Criminal Court of Santiago, the Public Ministry was also ordered to pay the costs.
The tragic event occurred in the early hours of July 2, 2019, in a city located on Avenida Brasil, in the commune of Santiago. According to the investigation of the incident, a fight broke out in that place between the woman with the initials SV, a mother of three children, and her partner, GF, a man also of Haitian nationality. The man suffered a knife wound to the chest that killed him on the spot.
SV was arrested and the Public Ministry requested against her a sentence of 15 years and one day as the author of the crime of parricide.
The legal representation of the accused, headed by the defender Patricia Alvarado Masafierro, argued that the woman of Haitian nationality had suffered for a long time constant physical aggression and gender violence from her partner. In this context, she mentioned the completion of expert reports that certify that SV shows injuries that include cranial sinking and burns with hot water.
The accused herself, meanwhile, testified that the aggressor once attacked her using acid extracted from a battery.
The day the fatal incident occurred, the investigation showed that while a fight was taking place in which there were blows from the aggressor, she took a knife as a self-defense measure, with which the wound that caused death was produced. by GF
The Fourth Oral Criminal Court considered that the defense was able to prove that SV acted under the justification grounds contemplated in our legal system, within the framework of the situation of permanent violence that it experienced and the fact that its most essential legal assets were affected, such as life and physical and mental integrity.
During the investigation of the case, the situation of vulnerability of the defendant, who does not speak Spanish and was inhibited from denouncing the situation of permanent gender-based violence that affected her, due to the fear she suffered and the lack of knowledge of her rights, became evident.
The court’s resolution considered among its conclusions the Convention of Belem Do Pará to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women, the recommendations of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of the United Nations and the Rules of Brasilia on access to justice for people in vulnerable conditions.
