Fifth suspect arrested over Buenos Aires gang torture and killings

Relatives and friends attend a demonstration called by rights groups under the banner: "There are no good or bad victims, only femicides". Photo / Luis Robayo, AFP

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Buenos Aires on Saturday to demand justice for three young women whose torture and murders were livestreamed on social media, in a case that has shocked Argentina.

The victims’ relatives held a banner with their names – “Lara, Brenda, Morena” – and placards with their images, joined by several leftist groups as they marched to Parliament.

“It was a narco-feminicide!” “Our lives are not disposable!” read signs and banners at the protest march.

The bodies of Morena Verdi and Brenda Del Castillo, cousins aged 20, and 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez were found buried on Wednesday (local time) in the yard of a house in a southern suburb of Buenos Aires, five days after they went missing.

The crime, which investigators tied to drug gangs, was perpetrated live on Instagram and watched by 45 members of a private account, officials said.

On Friday, National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich announced the arrest of a fifth suspect, bringing the total to three men and two women.

The fifth suspect, accused of providing logistical support with a car, was arrested in the Bolivian border city of Villazon, after collaboration between the two countries’ police forces.

Investigators said the victims, thinking they were going to a party, were lured into a van allegedly as part of a plan to “punish” them for violating gang code and serving as a warning to others.

Police discovered the video after one of the detainees revealed it under questioning, according to Javier Alonso, security minister for Buenos Aires province.

In the footage, a gang leader is heard saying: “This is what happens to those who steal drugs from me”.

Argentine media are reporting the torturers cut off fingers, pulled out nails, beat and suffocated the victims.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, disputed that the livestream occurred on its platform.

“We have not found any evidence of the livestream taking place on Instagram. Our team continues to co-operate with law enforcement as they investigate this horrific crime,” a spokesperson told AFP.

Dozens of people accompanied a funeral procession on Friday to a cemetery outside Buenos Aires, where a private burial for Verdi and Del Castillo was held.

Gutierrez was laid to rest elsewhere.

– Agence France-Presse