At the close of the second bank holiday in May (Monday 22), the Bogota Metropolitan Police achieved the capture of a man who would have tried to abuse a minor under 15 years of age, in an article of transmilenio.
The incident occurred after noon, when the young woman was on her way home in the Tibabuyes neighborhood (town of Suba), together with his sister.
The designated one, who would have been under the influence of illegal substances, he approached the young woman looking touch their private parts and even access it carnally. However, with the struggle, the other passengers noticed what was happening and helped the minor.
The defendant was detained and handed over to the authorities at the Military School stationlocated on Avenida Medellín, between Suba and Carrera 53. This is how the father of the minor, who decided to protect his identity, would have announced it in an interview granted for the Arriba Bogotá morning newspaper:
“Around 1:30 – 2:00 In the afternoon I receive a call from my daughters in which they were crying. They told me that they were going to the TransMilenio Military School station and a subject violently tried to attack my daughter (the youngest), grab her private parts and abuse her inside the bus”.
He thanked the other passengers for the timely action and revealed that the defendant was sent to the URIs (Immediate Reaction Unit) of The farm: “Fortunately the passengers who were going (in the article) collaborated, arrested him and then the police arrived to later take him to the URI.”
When she went to the Immediate Reaction Unit, she noticed that her daughter “had an injured hand, it was left purple when she tried to protect her private parts. He managed to rip her dress (…) when I arrived they were already taking the entire identity of the subject and I waited until almost 7:00 at night to file the complaint, but I’m still waiting for what might happen to him.”
Hence, he called on the authorities to “take action because, fortunately, nothing happened to my daughter due to the actions of the passengers. But they still tell me (in the URI) that he does not have any antecedent, which is his first time. But just as something could have happened here, it could happen to any girl later, because the subject was drugged, totally crazy.
However, more than on the progress of the case, the family of the minor is focused on help her in her recovery physical and psychological. And it is that, as detailed by his father for the aforementioned medium:
“One despairs not knowing. They called me attacked crying. The mother arrived there, they feel nervous, they are afraid to get on a bus. Yesterday they asked me what they were going to do, because they no longer wanted to take a bus. It is the despair that something could happen to them, because, unfortunately, many acts (of violence) are happening against women (…) the call is to prevent”, then.
Since, as denounced by a report from the District Oversight titled “How safe do women feel in the space and public transport of Bogotá DC?” (2022), 8 out of 10 women have suffered sexual harassment or abuse in the city. Of these, 7 out of 10 are afraid of being harassed or of some kind of sexual attack on public transport.
According to the entity, it is unfortunate, but “the figures reveal that, in the age range, which goes from 18 to 44 yearsis where the largest proportion of women who have experienced at least one or several acts of harassment in the last twelve months is concentrated.
