The Buenos Aires police arrested Nelson and Daniela, stepfather and mother of the 13-year-old girl who was raped and gave birth to a baby in the city of Saladillo. The couple was found in a residence in the Buenos Aires town of Azul. Both will have to appear to testify in the coming hours before the case prosecutor, Roberto Javier Berlingieri.
The girl had gone to the Alejandro Posadas regional hospital complaining of severe stomach pains, but when the doctors attempted to examine her, they realized she was in labor at 35 weeks of gestation. After giving birth, last week she stated that her alleged abuser was her stepfather.
The news spread throughout the city of Saladillo and mobilized large groups of neighbors accusing the mother and her partner for the situation of the minor. Disturbances began at the victim's family's house and escalated to the house of the substitute prosecutor Patricia Hortel, who replaced Berlingeri while he was on leave.
Some neighbors shouted that the minor was being prostituted by her mother and subjected to all kinds of abuse, although local media verified that there are no previous reports corroborating this. At Hortel's address, "tires and a mattress were set on fire on the sidewalk, affecting the wooden gate," according to police reports. The group is said to have gathered spontaneously under the slogan of "justice by one's own hand."
