A pregnant young woman in the state of Veracruz, Mexico corresponded with a woman on Facebook and arranged to meet her to pick up some secondhand baby clothing.
Rosa Isela Castro Vazquez, 20, eight months pregnant, was reported missing on Wednesday, November 20, after she arranged the meeting at a pharmacy. When she didn’t return, her husband got worried.
Video footage showed the young woman being led inside a vehicle by another woman, who appeared to be behaving anxiously.
Police found Vazquez dead on the Los Arrieros ranch. Her baby had been cut out of her womb and was miraculously still alive.
The attackers were the woman she met, known as Veronica “N,” and her companion, Gonzalo “N.” After stealing the infant from the mother, they went to the Veracruz Regional Hospital to register it but were unable to prove the child was theirs and police were called.
The abduction was planned. Veronica was faking a pregnancy for months and was incapable of conceiving.
The couple was charged with kidnapping and femicide. The infant was rescued by law enforcement and kept safe.
Femicide is a growing problem in Mexico. Reports show that in 2021, 1,000 out of 3,700 female murders were classified as femicide.
“They call it femicide because it’s an attack on women, but it’s mainly because of how gruesome the crime is against a female,” said Michael Lettieri, a Ph.D. Senior Fellow for Human Rights, Center for US-Mexican studies.
These incidents have sparked rage and encouraged people to protest about the femicide crisis in Mexico.
In Texas last month, a jury gave a woman the death penalty for killing a pregnant woman and stealing her unborn baby.
