The woman in her 30s reported having been raped by three men in the early morning of January 15 in a house in Pinares. She filed the complaint immediately and although the case was initially assigned to the San Carlos Prosecutor’s Office, the criminal case was transferred to Montevideo. The Fernandina prosecutor Fiorella Marzano ordered the first proceedings –instruction of expertise– and now the case must wait for the judicial fair to end.
This is because the case in Montevideo was referred to the Sexual Offenses Prosecutor’s Office that was on duty at the time of the event –the one headed by prosecutor Maximiliano Sosa–, but when the case was assigned its week of duty had already passed, reason why Sosa will make contact with the cause this 1either February when the judicial fair ends.
However, Marzano had already arranged the measures that must be ordered immediately after a complaint of this type. That is, the different skills required. But since Marzano finished his shift on January 17, the case has no acting prosecutor. If an emergency arises, the Public Ministry can ask another prosecutor to be on duty at this time. The Victims and Witnesses Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office is intervening, who assists the victim.
This occurs because the case was denounced during the judicial fair. In this period – which runs from December 24 to the first business day of February – the Judiciary and the Prosecutor’s Office go into recess and set up an on-call system in which only emergencies are attended. During this period, cases initiated earlier or those that do not require urgent proceedings are on hold.
In turn, measures not to approach the complainant ordered by the Gender Violence Court of San Carlos of 2either Shift. as he learned The Observer This Wednesday the Forensic Technical Institute will carry out a risk assessment of the three investigated and as a result the precautionary measures imposed by the Family Court could be aggravated. This happens in parallel to the criminal investigation and one has no influence on the other.
The complainant stated in an interview with Underlined that she received “sinister” treatment at the police station when she appeared to report what she had experienced. She suggested that she did not appear to have been sexually assaulted.
The chronology of the events that the woman denounced
When recounting the facts, the victim expressed: “My memories go back to 10 p.m., when I went out with him (the main defendant) to talk to some neighbors who were complaining about the volume of the music. He shares a drink with me, I feel bad, my friends ask permission to go to bed. I don’t remember anything else.”
“I felt weak in my body, I couldn’t hold myself up, my legs were going backwards. I didn’t feel nauseous. I go out, I drink alcohol, and I had never lost consciousness, ”she explained.
In addition, the victim recounted what his friends told him about what happened once he lost consciousness. “According to my friend, he suggests that we go up to her room and he begins to touch her vagina and mine, and she puts the brakes on him, tells him that we did not want to be with him, that I could not make a decision. She goes down to look for my birthday friend and when they go up the door was locked, I did not respond, he (the defendant) responded that I was fine and that they should leave.
“In that meantime they go up and down, when they manage to open the door, he, his cousin and his brother were on top of me, there were traces of semen on my underwear, marks and bruises on the arms and thighs. I just became aware on Saturday at 12 noon when I woke up in another house, that of my friend the birthday boy. They told me about the situation that I had experienced and I was shocked, and I understand why my pelvis and arms hurt, ”he added.
Finally, the victim recounted what happened the next day, and denounces that she had problems accessing the necessary medicines when a situation of rape is reported. “There I receive first aid, I receive medications for sexually transmitted diseases, but I don’t receive certain things, such as preventive treatment for HIV. I got it thanks to the psychologists from the Maldonado Prosecutor’s Office,” added the victim.
