Spain: Four men beat a young woman to ‘destroy her pretty face’

“Four young men beat a young woman in Vitoria to ‘destroy her pretty face’ when she returned home alone,” translated from “Cuatro jóvenes golpean a una joven en Vitoria para ‘destrozarle su cara guapa’ cuando volvía sola a su casa,” El Mundo, October 25, 2021:

A 30-year-old young woman from Vitoria reported before the Ertzaintza that she had been subjected to a brutal attack when she was returning home. The resident of the El Batán neighbourhood was walking around 4 in the morning towards her family home when in one of the gardens between Nieves Cano and Salbatierrabide streets she was surrounded by four young people who, according to her testimony, were from Maghrebi origin. “Let’s see how we destroy that beautiful face,” they threatened before hitting her several times, causing wounds on her face.

After the assault, the young woman called her parents, who live just 200 meters away from the place where the assault occurred. Afterwards, and in the company of her father, she demanded the presence of the Ertzaintza, that has treated the victim and initiated an investigation that is open. The neighbour of Vitoria has formalized her complaint, and in it, she maintains that the young people surrounded and threatened her before beating her when she was alone and in a semi-dark area with small gardens in this residential area in the south of Vitoria.

The young woman was returning home alone and observed that she was being followed by several young people whom she tried to distance herself from to get to her home. After blocking her way and beating her, the four assailants fled without stealing any of the personal belongings that she carried from her. The Ertzaintza, which began the investigation after learning the facts, is looking for the alleged culprits of this attack, while the victim, who was hospitalized, is already recovering at her home.

The aggression has provoked an immediate reaction from political and social representatives of the city. The Gure Batan Elkartea association has expressed its “closeness and solidarity” with the victim of the attack and her relatives and demanded that the Ertzaintza and the Local Police identify the alleged culprits of the attack. In addition, in a statement released through social networks, it has called a rally to protest against this brutal attack that will take place tomorrow, Monday at 8:00 p.m. at the intersection of Nieves Cano and Salbatierrabide streets.

Mayor Gorka Urtaran made his “resounding condemnation” public on his Twitter account after denouncing that this attack was “very serious.” “People are neither better nor worse because of our nationality, sex or religion,” he has stated in relation to the fact that the attackers were young Maghrebis, as is noted in the victim’s complaint. “These heartless ones do deserve exemplary punishment,” he warned.

PP spokesperson Ainhoa ​​Domaica has also expressed her condemnation of the attack. “There is too much of this riffraff in our city,” she stressed. Domaica has requested an urgent meeting of the Board of Spokespersons of the Vitoria City Council to analyze this act of violence against a woman by a group of strangers. “The increase in violence, insecurity and aggression in our streets is very worrying. What is happening in Vitoria?” the “populist” spokesperson asked, and demanded that authorities “act now.”

#crimebymen

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