The Archbishopric of the Blessed Asunción (Paraguay) called not to remain silent before the “painful and terrible news” of the murder of little Melania Monserrath, 11.
The girl’s body was found on Monday 21 in a wasteland in the town of Fulgencio Yegros, department of Caazapá. The suspect to commit the crime had already been in prison for having abused the same girl, but last April he obtained probation.
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Upon knowing the news, the Archbishopric of Asunción issued a communication which states: “His death leaves us deeply injured and hits the heart of our society strongly.”
“We cannot remain silent before such an atrocious fact,” he says. Therefore, “we join the crying and suffering of his mother, his family and the entire community of Caazapá.”
From the local church they ensure their prayers in the masses and manifest family members “who are not alone in this dark moment.”
They also raise their voice “to cry justice”, because “there can be no true peace while such cruel crimes are not clarified or punished with all the weight of the law.”
“The State has the moral and legal obligation to protect the most vulnerable, especially our children, the most defenseless and unprotected,” they say.
Finally, the Catholic Church renews its commitment to “care for, educate and denounce all forms of violence, threat or abuse, especially when they are taught with the little ones.”
“May Our Lord Jesus Christ receive Melania in his arms and grant him eternal peace. Let’s continue working together for a society where children can grow in peace, protected, care and loved,” he concludes.
The Chief of Investigation of the Police of Caazapá, Commissioner Marcos Velázquez, He said to local media that the hypothesis that the little girl was “invited” to go to a yuyal (land with high pastures) is handled to a few meters from her home, to look for sand to continue playing, and there she was killed.
“The presumption we have is that they wanted to appear a suicide for the clothing that the little girl had. One was tied to a small bush and another to the neck,” said the commissioner. According to the investigations, the girl died because of a mechanical asphyxiation by hanging.
Prosecutor Carlos Ramírez charged Marcelo Giménez Duarte, 24 years old, for homicide malicious as an author and requested the preventive detention. The accused had been imprisoned for sexual abuse against little Melania in 2022, when she was 8 years old, but was granted probation last April.
Given the insistence of the victim’s family, the autopsy will finally take place.
Julieta Villar
I am a journalist, a graduate in Communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non -governmental organizations. Since 2016 I dedicate myself to Catholic journalism, first in the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as a correspondent for ACI Press for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.