An angry mob lynched to death a man accused of attempting to kidnap minors in Puebla state, local authorities said on Sunday (June 12th). “This is not justice, but barbarism. The competent authorities are already investigating what happened in order to determine the responsibilities“, declares the press release of the municipality of Huachinango.
Daniel Picazo, 31, was beaten and burned Friday by a crowd of about 200 people, in the locality of Papatlazolco, about 180 kilometers from Mexico City, according to the same source. Police tried to help him but neighbors stopped them. When officers tried to get him to safety inside a patrol car, local residents pulled him out and forcibly took him to a sports field where he was beaten, sprayed with gasoline and set on fire while he was still alive. The body was recovered after residents left the scene.
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The mobilization of the population and the accusations against Picazo originated from telephone message groups, which announced that a suspected criminal was in town to kidnap minors, the statement continued. The victim worked until March 2022 as an adviser to the Chamber of Deputies, said this institution on social networks while deploring the murder.
This type of crime is not new to Mexico. They occur in remote places, where law enforcement is slow to arrive. One of the most dramatic cases occurred in 2019, also in Puebla, when seven men were beaten and burned alive.