Woman killed and skinned; Mexico is up in arms

MEXICO CITY — One morning this week, Mexico City police received a radio call about an “aggression against a woman.” Arriving at the scene — an apartment in a lower-middle-class neighborhood — they discovered a horror: the body of a 25-year-old who had been stabbed to death, cut up and partially skinned.

The killing of Ingrid Escamilla last weekend has gripped the nation and ignited a fresh round of protests over Mexico’s high levels of violence against women.

On Friday, demonstrators hurled paint at the entrance to the National Palace to protest Ms. Escamilla’s death and other “femicides” — murders of women because of their gender. Additional protests were planned for Friday evening and Saturday.

Ms. Escamilla’s case shocked Mexicans not only because her death was so gruesome but because it was so publicized. Photos of her mutilated body were leaked to two tabloids. One of them, Pasala, headlined a photo spread, “It was Cupid’s fault.”

Mexicans struck back on social media, insisting that Ms. Escamilla should be memorialized not by such ghastly photos but instead by beautiful images. Thousands of people posted or shared pictures of flowers, rainbows and animals, using hashtags such as #IngridEscamilla and #IngridFotos.

Ms. Escamilla’s husband confessed to the crime, according to media reports. The city’s public security department confirmed his arrest.

Mexicans have voiced increasing frustration with violence against women. The country recorded more than 1,000 deaths classified as femicides last year, part of a historic high of 35,588 killings. Women have marched in scores of protests in the past two years over genderbased killings, rape and harassment. In recent months, they have launched strikes at universities throughout the country to protest sexual violence.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador touched off another round of outrage this week when he upbraided a journalist for asking about femicides as he was telling a news conference about a special government raffle.

“I don’t want femicides to distract from the raffle,” he said.

On Friday, he said he was not dismissing the problem. “As I have said, we are against femicides,” he told reporters. “We are doing things every day to guarantee peace and tranquility.”

Mr. Lopez Obrador’s faux pas came after the country’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz Manero, sparked an uproar by suggesting that femicides should not be considered a crime separate from homicides.