On May 8, 2021, the state judiciary, after sentencing Roxana Ruiz to six years, two months and seven days in prison last Monday for the murder of a man who committed a domestic rape in the Benito Juárez neighborhood of Ciudad Neza, The Judiciary of the State of Mexico (PJEM) gave the reason for the sentence.
The crime for which the 23-year-old girl, originally from Pinotepa Nacional of Oaxaca, was prosecuted was simple murder committed with an excess of self-defense to the detriment of Sinai “Ann”. PJEM said in a statement released Wednesday that the judge studied the evidence provided by the prosecution and defense from a broader gender perspective, considering Roxana “Ann”‘s vulnerability as a woman and indigenous person.
What does the judiciary argue about the sentence against Roxana?
In the mechanics of the allegations and the facts, the valid defense proved to have an excess, because according to the evidence, Roxana “Ann” knocked Sinai “Ann” unconscious with a blow to the head, and the latter suffocated her by strangulation. The blow was sufficient to contain the physical aggression, which ended when he neutralized it, argued the judge during a Monday afternoon hearing at the Oral Trial and Sentence Execution Court attached to the Neza Bordeaux prison.
After the events, she stayed with the corpse for at least 20 hours and then performed the postmortem: five stab wounds ranging in size from 4 to 32 cm with a razor or knife. The Justice Administrator considered that Roxana’s guilt was aggravated by the fact that the body had been mutilated, placed in a plastic bag, and tried to leave on the street.
The PJEM declared, “Prior to this sentence, the parties may appeal, so that in the second instance the Magistrate and Magistrate may confirm, amend or annul the resolution.” Although the judge passed a sentence against her, Roxana is free because prior to sentencing a federal judge granted her an amparo to face process outside prison.
“The judiciary asks journalists and society to respect the judge who delivered the verdict with the evidence presented by the parties,” he urged in the statement.
Roxana Ruiz is sentenced to more than 6 years in prison
On Wednesday, May 10, a hearing took place in which the same PJEM judge determined Roxana’s responsibility in Sinai’s death, who had sexually assaulted her two years earlier in May. The resolution established that Roxana was a victim of sexual violence, that she is a vulnerable person and that legitimate defense was also recognized, but the Prosecuting Court held that she had exceeded her legitimate defense while defending her life, her sexual freedom. He did what he should have stopped, but didn’t.
At Monday’s hearing, the judge said the defendant acted with intent to defend when he committed the sexual assault, so his behavior was unlawful. In the presence of Sinai’s mother, Roxana commits murder while defending her life, with the Minister of Justice stating that Roxana faced sexual and gender violence, but did not act proportionately and rationally.
After she was raped by Sinai in Roxana’s room, she took an object with which she struck her assailant and, as the judge argued, had controlled him by that action, but what she did next strangulated her with a shirt, causing her death, then she mutilated the body, so her conduct was not proper and she committed a serious offence.
How much will Roxana have to pay to repair the damage?
In the process, Roxana was accompanied by an expert interpreter, who translated the entire hearing into the Mixtec language. In addition to the sentence, the judge imposed fines of 7,748 pesos, 196,267 pesos and 89,620 pesos to repair non-material damages. The judge stressed that the trial was approached from a gender perspective as a woman and being indigenous, as established by the nation’s Supreme Court.
Outside the courts attached to the Neza Bordeaux prison, where Roxana was imprisoned for nine months and then released after a first instance judge revoked informal preventive detention, although the appeals court of Texcoco upheld that action. Feminist groups supported Young’s cause. Woman from Oaxaca and relative of Sinai, who raised slogans.
“If I had not defended myself, I would have been the one who would have died”
“I feel bad, I am hurt, I am disappointed with the justice because it was recognised, it was recorded, it was proved that I was raped and it was not fair that I said they raped me. When they arrested me, they locked me up for nine months and on top of that they gave me a sentence. If I hadn’t defended myself, I would have been the one who would have died now and maybe this person would have survived and any one And wouldn’t be paying for feminism,” Roxana said through tears.
