SANTO DOMINGO.- The Attorney General’s Office (PGR), through the General Inspectorate of the Public Ministry and the National Directorate Against Gender Violence, is investigating the particularities of the process that linked the now deceased Chantal Jiménez, who was killed last Saturday at the hands of her femicide Yensy Graciano Cepeda (ex-partner), who would have committed suicide after committing such a nefarious action.
Graciano Cepeda was notified of a Protection Order on April 5 of this year.
The Attorney General of the Republic said that it waits to conclude the investigations related to this case, in order to take the corresponding actions, in order to avoid the occurrence of similar events.
Through a press release, he explained that he is investigating whether the general instructions for the prevention and prosecution of cases of gender violence, intrafamily violence and sexual crimes were violated, specifically number 5, regarding the withdrawal of the victim.
He recalled that numeral 5 of said instructions establishes the withdrawal of the victim: “when a victim withdraws from his complaint or process, this action in no way compromises the actions of the Public Ministry, which must always seek, apart from the testimony of the victim , other evidence in case such a circumstance occurs. We remember that these crimes are of public order and, nevertheless, they must be continued until the end. The victim gives up because she is involved in the Battered Woman Syndrome, because she does not recognize herself as a victim, because of the social pressure she is subjected to and because of the shame she feels about what is happening.
They indicate that: “consequently, it is totally prohibited to draw up acts of commitments, in matters of femicide violence. For such purposes, the position of the Public Prosecutor’s Office must remain unchanged, despite the fact that the victim, as a consequence of the Battered Women’s Syndrome or the learned helplessness, wants to establish an agreement. It is important to take into account that, in order to agree, the consent of the parties cannot be flawed and a woman whose life is at risk in the face of her aggressor executioner lacks the freedom to agree regardless of the consequences left by femicidal violence. .
The PGR highlighted that it is also investigating whether the content of the instructions was taken into account in the following aspects.
Number 4 of the instructions on the type and form of wounds or blows, which indicates that: “an effective way to determine if the victim is at risk of death is paying close attention to the type of blows and wounds inflicted. We point out that attacks on the neck, ribcage or hands are highly important when they have been the consequence of avoiding an attack on the aforementioned body parts, the prosecutor should not only see the legal medical disability, since these cases They are of very high femicide risks ”.
Regarding firearms, the instructions state: “all firearms must be retained, regardless of whether they are legally carried and owned, when they are in possession of a person accused of gender, intrafamily and sexual violence, especially when this has been part of the violence or threat inflicted”.
The instructions were sent to the entire Public Ministry of the country in November 2020, by the Attorney General Miriam Germán Brito.
