A young woman in Mexico has been jailed for six years for killing a man who assaulted and raped her at her home two years ago.
The ruling against Roxana Ruiz has spurred anger from experts and feminist groups who said it speaks to the depth of gender-based violence and Mexico’s poor record of bringing perpetrators of sexual violence to justice.
The court acknowledged that the woman, named only as Roxana Ruiz, acted in self-defence when she killed her attacker in 2021, but said she used excessive force.
The woman, 23, first knocked the man unconscious, then strangled him, and finally tried to dismember his body. She kept the body for at least 20 hours before putting it in a plastic bag on the street.
The court said that it took into consideration the woman’s ‘vulnerability as a woman and as an indigenous person’ in its sentencing.
Roxana Ruiz will be appealing the sentence Tuesday, which was handed down by Judge Mónica Osorio in Mexico, her attorney said. ‘I feel sad, disappointed in (the) justice (system), they locked me up for nine months, they give me a sentence,’ she said following the court hearing.
‘If I had not defended myself, I would be the dead one.’
Her lawyer, Ángel Carrera, fears that Osorio’s ruling could set ‘a bad precedent’ going forward if is not overturned.’It’s sending the message to women that, you know what, the law says you can defend yourself, but only to a point,’ he said.
‘He raped you, but you don’t have the right to do anything.’
Judge Osorio backed her sentencing by indicating that Ruiz ‘could have given him a blow to the head to defend herself and leaving him unconscious would have been enough.
Ruiz Wass also ordered to make a $16,000 reparation payment to Sinai Cruz’s family.
The 23-year-old single mother was at a neighborhood bar having a drink with a friend on May 8, 2021, and ran into Cruz on her way home.
Cruz offered to walk her home and then insisted that she allow him to stay the night because it was late and his residence was too far.
Once inside, Cruz persisted that he be permitted to sleep in her bedroom, Ruiz agreed to let him sleep on a mattress on the floor.
But while she slept he climbed onto her bed, hit her, tore off her clothes and raped her, according to Ruiz’s legal defense.
Ruiz fought back, hitting him in the nose. He threatened to kill her, and in the struggle to free herself she killed him in self defense.
In a panic, she stuffed Cruz’s body into a bag and dragged it out to the street, where a police officer on patrol took her into custody despite Ruiz telling him that she had been raped.
Despite telling police she had been raped, Carrera said a forensic exam was never taken, a crucial step in prosecuting sexual violence cases.
Instead, an officer responded that she probably wanted to have sex with the man at first and then changed her mind, he said.
Ruiz was charged with homicide and spent nine months in jail but was conditionally released ahead of the trial.
She accused the police of making her relive the gruesome attack, claiming a cop told her that she wanted to have sex with Cruz before she backed out.
She also said they repeatedly failed in providing access to a medical exam that would have confirmed her accusation against Cruz.
In a 2022 interview with The Associated Press, Ruiz acknowledged remorse over her actions but said she had no other choice because she would have been dead.
‘It’s evident that the state wants to shut us up, wants us to be submissive, wants us closed up inside, wants us dead,’ she said.
