August 15, 2024, 9:22 PM
August 15, 2024, 9:22 PM
This Thursday, the judge of the municipality of Camiri, José Edmundo Chumacero Ruíz, ordered the preventive detention for 120 days for the rector of the Guaraní Productive Indigenous University (Unibol), Gonzalo Maratua Pedraza, because he allegedly abused and harassed four university students.
The preliminary hearing was held on Wednesday, but The session was suspended because the principal said that his blood pressure had gone up. This Thursday’s session the hearing was held again in the municipality of Camiri.
Prosecutor Felipe Rojas Alberti indicated to Judge José Edmundo Chumacero that It is not only about the four victims who reported Not only is this the case, but there are many young female students who suffered sexual abuse. It is also reported that other students were stripped of their clothes by the principal.
At the hearing, the prosecutor submitted expert, testimonial and documentary evidence against the rector. In addition, He requested his arrest because he was considered a probable perpetrator of the crimes of sexual abuse and harassment committed against active students and, most of them, already professionals in the Unibol, based in the town of Ivo, in Macharetí.
Following the judge’s ruling, victims, relatives and residents They shouted “justice has been done.” The police arrested the man and transferred him to the Camiri public prison.
The young lThey come to that university from various places of the country, such as the Yungas of La Paz, Beni and various indigenous communities.
“On July 9th at 1:45 pm the rector entered my office, opened the door and closed it. He approached me and from behind I felt that he bit my ear and grabbed my face and tried to kiss me. I got upset, I lowered my head so he couldn’t kiss me, then he walked away laughing and told me that I was very pretty. I responded: ‘Lawyer, you have your family, you have your daughter’ and then he came back and He struggled to kiss me again. Then he hugged me and touched my breasts,” is one of the victims’ testimonies.
According to investigations, sexual abuse, harassment and attempted rape have been registered since 2022.
The director of the Citizen Network Against Infanticide and Child Sexual Abuse, Jessica Echeverría, arrived at the municipality of Camiri to take on the defense of four of the victims. He said he had identified two other victims and that others remained silent out of fear.
The Ministry of Education decided to immediately dismiss Gonzalo Maratua Pedraza. The Minister of Education, Omar Veliz Ramos, together with the Vice Minister of Higher Education and Professional Training, José Luis Gutiérrez, assured that The decision is due to the complaints filed against of the rector of the Guaraní Apiaguaiki Tupa Productive Indigenous University, for sexual abuse and harassment against university students.
“There are several complaints, justice must be done, we cannot allow these things to happen as a ministry. We want to tell the parents and the students who have suffered these attacks to make their complaints known“, Veliz said.
He also said that everyone’s safety and studies will be safeguarded and that The people “must know that it will be transparent” the research.
