Three young men between 19 and 25 years old have been arrested by the Civil Guard accused of crimes against moral integrity and illegal detention, after allegedly shackling and harassing a 17-year-old girl in a house in Lanzarote. The arrested have already been brought to justice and have been released on charges, with a restraining order from the minor and the obligation to appear periodically in court.
The events occurred on May 11 when the detainees, "taking advantage of their friendship with the victim", allegedly "convinced" her to go with them to a home. The house, which they had the keys to, belonged to another friend who did not intervene in what happened. There, according to the complaint, the minor was held against her will "for several hours" and was "handcuffed, while being harassed and beaten".
Initially, the young woman did not go to the doctor or report the events, although she was later treated at a health center as a result of the injuries to her wrists. A week after the event, on May 18, her parents went to the Civil Guard barracks in Tías to report what happened. Apparently, the victim did not tell them at first, but they ended up finding out through the educational center she attends.
Foreigners and residents on the island
The next day, May 19, the agents carried out the first arrest, culminating the operation on June 1 with the third arrest. The detainees are A.C., of German nationality, and M.A.M.M. and J.D.A.F, of Colombian nationality, although all three reside on the island.
The operation, called Amino, was carried out by agents of the Territorial Team of the Judicial Police (ETPJ) of Tías. According to the Civil Guard in a statement, "the taking of exploration (or manifestation) of the minor, the various wounds that she still had on her wrists and another series of police investigations" allowed "to identify the three alleged perpetrators of the events".
After being brought to justice, a precautionary measure was agreed upon prohibiting approaching the minor within 300 meters and appearing in court periodically in court to prevent them from leaving the country until the trial is held.
Sexist violence
Although according to the complaint there was no sexual assault, nor can we speak of gender violence - as there was no sentimental relationship - the investigators specify that it would be a case of sexist violence.
In its press release, the Civil Guard recalls that the pages of the State Observatory of Violence against Women (http://www.violenciagenero.msssi.gob.es/informacionUtil/derechos/home.htm) and the corresponding one of the Institute of Women and for Equal Opportunities (http://www.inmujer.gob.es) offer a series of informative, educational resources, etc., in order to promote and promote equality between both sexes, under the protection of article 14 of the Spanish Constitution, which establishes that "Spaniards are equal before the law, without any discrimination prevailing on the grounds of birth, race, sex, religion, opinion or any other personal or social condition or circumstance".
In addition, they emphasize that article 173.1 of the Penal Code punishes with prison sentences of six months to two years anyone who causes another person degrading treatment, seriously undermining their moral integrity, taking into account that article 22.4 of the aforementioned law aggravates the possible penalties for those who commit the crime for racist, anti-Semitic reasons or other kinds of discrimination referring to the ideology, religion or beliefs of the victim, the ethnicity, race or nation to which they belong, their sex, sexual orientation or identity, gender reasons, the disease they suffer or their disability.