The Attorney General of the State of Veracruz (FGE) reported this June 3 on the arrest of Marlon Botas Fuentes, alleged femicide of Montserrat Bendimes Roldán, on April 17, 2021.
Local and national media report that the FGE was in charge of the arrest, while sources close to the case say that Marlon Botas turned himself in to the Xalapa State Human Rights Commission when he felt pressured by the search of his grandmother’s house, in Mérida, Yucatán, address that was located by the video that he published on social networks last month.
The detainee had been a fugitive since April 2021 after being accused of having beaten his girlfriend, Montserrat Bendimes Roldán, to death at his home in Boca del Río, Veracruz. On the spot, the subject’s parents, who facilitated his escape, transferred the young woman without proper care to the hospital.
After the brutal attack, Bendimes ended up with several fractures in the body and a head injury that caused his death on April 23, 2021. In November of last year, the parents of Marlon Botas, identified as Jorge Ignacio “N” and Diana Elizabeth “N”, were apprehended and charged with concealment of femicide. Both are in pretrial detention awaiting trial.
Prior to his arrest, on May 16, Marlon Botas reappeared in a video in which he assured that the death of Montserrat Bendimes was “accidental.” In addition, he requested the release of her parents in exchange for surrendering.
The FGE confirmed the arrest through a bulletin and indicated that it occurred after a search by the ministerial police carried out at his grandmother’s house in Mérida, Yucatán, where the arrest warrant against him was read to him, this June 2 .
Respecting his human rights and due process, he will be presented at an initial hearing before the trial and oral criminal procedure judge of the judicial district of Veracruz, so that he can define his legal situation, within criminal process 387/2021.
– FGE Veracruz (@FGE_Veracruz) June 3, 2022
The State Attorney General’s Office, headed by Verónica Hernández Giadáns, reports that elements of the Ministerial Police completed an arrest warrant against Marlon “N”, for the alleged crime of femicide committed against MBR, events that occurred in the municipality of Boca del Río, Veracruz, on April 17, 2021.
Through Twitter, the State Prosecutor’s Office assured that the arrest was carried out based on due process and respect for the human rights of the person. In addition, the agency announced that the subject “is presumed innocent and will be treated as such at all stages of the procedure until his responsibility is declared by a sentence issued by the court.”
The case has caused outrage in Veracruz society, which is why multiple marches and demonstrations have been called to demand that Marlon Boots be arrested and that the case not go unpunished.