Mexican rock star found dead after denying Metoo claim

THE bass player for Mexican rock band Botellita de Jerez has died after posting a suicide letter on Twitter saying he was falsely and anonymously accused of sexually abusing a child.

Armando Vega-gil, 64, was found dead at his Mexico City home on Monday – a day after a woman posted a complaint online claiming he sent her “disgusting and sexually explicit” text messages when she was 13.

The musician denied the accusation but said that “a terrible end is better than an endless terror”. He also published a letter saying he would kill himself “to leave the way clear” for his son.

He added: “The accusation ... is anonymous, and the person who published it on social media has every right to do it that way, but this places in doubt my entire career. My death is not an admission of guilt, rather it is a radical declaration of innocence.”

In the original post, the woman said Vega-gil was 50 when she visited his home with friends but she felt uncomfortable and he later sent her disturbing messages. “He said things that were more and more disgusting and sexually explicit. I decided to block him and change my cell phone,” she wrote.

The suicide unleashed criticism of Mexico’s newly energised Metoo movement, which saw its Twitter account temporarily taken down soon after Vega-gil’s death.

“Let this help us remember that the justifiable complaints about harassment and violence against women should not become an irresponsible persecution,” wrote Mexico’s national educational publishing agency.

However, the international Metoo group claimed Vega-gil’s suicide was done to “defame the movement”.