A 16 year old girl has been beaten and burned to death in Guatemala.
Medias report that the girl was burned alive by a lynch mob، after she was accused of killing a taxi driver، Carlos Enrique González Noriega، 68.
A horrifying video of the attack has been circulated widely in Guatemala، and shows images of the girl being punched and kicked by a large group of vigilantes. After the beating، one of the mob covers the young girl in petrol and sets her on fire. After writhing in pain، the girl finally dies.
The incident took place in a village in the Rio Bravo municipality of Guatemala، in Central America.
Violent lynchings، which often involve the victims being burned alive، are a fact of life in Guatemala – in March، two men were lynched in the village of Saquiyá، around 100 miles away from Rio Bravo، after they were accused of stealing a car. The mob of around 150 people burned one of the men alive، and hung the other from a tree.
Guatemala has a major problem with violent crime. Many powerful drug and human trafficking cartels operate in the nation، due to its central position between South and North America.
Huge numbers of street gangs and corrupt or incompetent police have ensured that the country has the sixth highest murder rate in the world – and less than four per cent of murders end in a conviction.