Salta: Rugby players allegedly attacked a teenager

Relatives of a 17-year-old boy reported that their son was attacked and beaten by a group of rugby players and that as a result of the attack he is hospitalized in critical condition.

October 19, 2021

Elena Corvalán

Illustration: Florencia Capella

Relatives of a 17-year-old boy reported that their son was brutally attacked by a group of rugby players and is currently hospitalized in serious condition. The Public Prosecutor's Office of Salta has taken over the case and reported that medical examinations determined the teenager sustained "minor injuries." The attack came to light yesterday through a post by SL, the teenager's brother. "These violent individuals yesterday cold-bloodedly kicked my brother, ten at a time, while he was unconscious on the ground. Today I ask you to expose them; these things have to stop now," he posted on his Instagram account, along with a photograph of four rugby players whom he identified as the perpetrators.

The teenager's father filed a criminal complaint alleging that his son was beaten by a group of men, including at least four rugby players from the Jockey Club of Salta.
The incident occurred at a party held at the San Vicente de Cámara ranch, in the rural area of Campo Quijano, 31 kilometers from the city of Salta, in the Calchaquí Valleys region, although the perpetrators reside in the provincial capital.

The complainant reported that at 4:50 a.m., while his son was dancing, he was pushed by three young men, all players from the Jockey Club, and three other men, who pushed him until he was cornered against a wall, “insulting him and threatening to beat him up.” In those circumstances, one of the aggressors, whom he identified as Juan Cruz Aranda, “headbutted him in the face.” The teenager fell, hit his head on the wall, and was left dazed.

While he was in that situation, “the other two males,” whom the complainant identified as Tomás Colque and Tomás Russo, “punched him repeatedly in the head, chest, stomach, and back.”
The attack ended when his cousin, also a teenager, asked another young man for help, who assisted her in getting him to the parking lot.

The complainant stated that this incident was a continuation of an earlier altercation his son had with fellow rugby player Carlos Martearena, son of the president of the Salta Rugby Union. The complaint prompted the intervention of the Salta Public Prosecutor's Office. The prosecutor who should have handled the case based on jurisdiction, Federico Jovanovicz, recused himself due to a friendship with the family of one of the accused, and Prosecutor Gabriel Portal is now in charge. Portal has ordered two forensic examinations of the teenager.

The Public Prosecutor's Office reported last night that doctors Mariana Lambropulos and Alejandra Nasrala, experts from the Salta Fiscal Investigations Corps (CIF), determined that the teenager has minor injuries, "two abrasions".

According to reports, the initial medical examination, conducted by Lambropulos, reached this conclusion. Following the insistence of the complaining family, a second examination was ordered, conducted by Nasrala, which yielded the same result. For this reason, the prosecutor did not request any arrests, citing "no risk of obstruction of justice and the fact that the crime was not committed in flagrante delicto."

In contrast, the prosecutor requested that a restraining order be issued prohibiting the defendants from approaching and committing acts of physical and psychological violence against the teenager.

However, the teenager's family confirmed that he remains in critical condition and hospitalized.
The Public Prosecutor's Office added that a CT scan was ordered "as a precaution."

On the other hand, it was learned that Tomás Colque also filed a criminal complaint yesterday, denying any involvement in the altercation. Furthermore, the newspaper El Tribuno published a statement yesterday attributing the incident to the president of the Salta Rugby Union, Carlos Martearena.

The leader maintained that he felt compelled to clarify the situation to "prevent the continued spread of a distorted and inaccurate version of events." He asserted that his son had an "exchange of words" and, in that context, "suddenly received a punch to the face that fractured his nasal septum." "Carlos was a victim of his accuser and had no involvement whatsoever in the events that followed," about which conflicting accounts exist, he affirmed.

Martearena's father also lamented that this incident was being used to "involve the Salta Rugby Union" and the sport in general "with defamatory and completely inappropriate remarks." He added that he had filed a criminal complaint regarding the attack on his son.

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