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SALTA, Argentina . Florencia Isabel Torrez was 14 years old. On the afternoon of Saturday, March 5, she was stabbed in the indigenous community of Nueva Jerusalén, in the municipality of Pichanal , in the north of the province of Salta.

the second murder of an Indigenous girl in the region this year In January, Pamela, a 12-year-old girl, was found dead after having been missing for three days.

Both crimes also expose the sexual abuses committed against girls and adolescents from indigenous communities in the northern part of the province.

In Florencia's case, two young men, aged 24 and 19, one a criollo (as non-indigenous people are called in this area) and the other from the Wichí community, are the main suspects in her murder. They were the last people seen with her before her death.

The Public Prosecutor's Office of Salta reported that the criminal prosecutor of Orán, Claudia Carreras, formally charged them with "homicide aggravated by the existence of a relationship and by having been perpetrated by a man and through gender violence against a minor."

A sentimental bond that was abuse

Sources close to the family told Presentes that the 24-year-old man, unofficially identified as Kevin Tolaba and residing in the Francini neighborhood of Pichanal , had been in a relationship with the girl for over three years. He had been harassing her, even threatening her publicly, for some time, ever since the girl tried to distance herself from him.

Regarding the 19-year-old, -whose identity was not revealed-, he is originally from the Wichí community of El Algarrobal, also located in Pichanal, they said that he was "the current partner" of the girl.

In the indictment, the prosecutor argued that both “had a romantic relationship with the victim and were the last people seen with the teenager.”

Florencia's body, with at least two knife wounds in her chest, was found on Saturday afternoon, March 5, near the Pichanal cemetery, on the side of Provincial Route 5.

According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, at the arraignment hearing, the 19-year-old agreed to testify, denying responsibility for the crime and accusing the other defendant . Tolaba, for his part , chose not to make a formal statement, but it is known that at the time of his arrest he denied committing the crime and also blamed the other man. Both will remain in pretrial detention for the time being.

Women's support

As soon as Florencia's femicide became known, while the provincial criminal justice system was proceeding with the necessary procedures, another process began in the Nueva Jerusalén community of the Ava Guaraní people, where Florencia's family resides.

First, to address the immediate need: feeding the victim's younger siblings , since their father, Ariel Darío Torrez, is a day laborer on the farms surrounding Pichanal and is only paid per day worked. Then, to try to provide security for Florencia's younger sister, a 13-year-old girl who expressed her fear of being sexually abused.

These actions are accompanied by women members of the Kuape Äi group (Here I am) , from the Ava Guaraní community Misión San Francisco, one of the oldest settled in the jurisdiction of Pichanal.

These women took charge of supporting the family of the deceased and also handled the necessary procedures in these circumstances. They alerted women's organizations about the vulnerable situation of the children in the family.

According to the account of these women (who ask to protect their identities), it is known that the mother and father of Florencia and her immediately younger sister, who resided in the Misión Wichí community of Pichanal, separated when they were very young.

When they were five and four years old, their mother, who had formed a new relationship, took them to live about 30 kilometers away, in the Wichí community of Misión Carboncito.

About three years ago, this woman passed away, and the girls were then given to their father, who took them to live first in El Algarrobal and then in Nueva Jerusalén, where his new partner, Nancy Campos, is from. He has three other children with her.

Alone

One of the women from Kuape Äi said that, when the team from the Program for Assistance to Victims and Families of Victims of Gender Violence , “Florencia’s younger sister said that Kevin wanted to take her and that today she is afraid that this will happen.”

She said that's why they asked that "the assistance not only be today, that we seek by all means to protect that girl who is left behind."

This woman, acting as spokesperson for Kuape Äi, added that her group is trying to coordinate with the Ministry of Justice , which oversees the Assistance Program, to continue supporting the family and the community. “What we couldn’t do for Florencia, we will do for that little girl who remains,” she stated.

The women of Kuape Äi and other people close to the family (who declined to speak publicly) reported that Florencia and her sister had not fully integrated into the community . And that now the younger sister feels alone.

“She practically tells us she’s going to be alone,” the spokesperson said. She said the girl doesn’t mention her father as part of her immediate circle, and speculated that this might be because the man works all day on neighboring farms. His work begins before dawn and ends at night.

The women of Kuape Äi described a situation of “total abandonment” by Florencia’s family and the community where she lives. As an example, last Sunday night they had to take up a collection to feed the children.

And they were trying to raise funds to buy the coffin, which was finally provided by the Social Development area of ​​the municipality of Pichanal , with which the province coordinated once the case became public and women's organizations began to demand state assistance.

Child mothers

The spokesperson for Kuape Äi asserted that, “unfortunately,” sexual abuse of girls and adolescents is “a constant in the communities .” She said that this also occurs in her own community, and lamented that these practices appear to be normalized and “not questioned.”

She asserted that there are many cases of "child mothers living with people over 25 years old ." Many of them are of Creole descent, and these women even live in their parents' homes, who also say nothing about it.

“We are trying to address this issue now. We are currently coordinating with people from the Ministry (of Security and Justice), and we will try to work together to come (to the Nueva Jerusalén community) to talk. Because what adults consider normal is one thing, and what children tell you is another.”

In the conversation with Presentes , the spokesperson wept, lamenting not being able to help Florencia. “I didn’t know her before, that hurts even more, it hurts to have met her now in a coffin. The pain the family is carrying is unbearable,” she stated.

The head of the Salta Assistance Program, Carla Tiano, sent Presentes a detailed account of the actions that the program's team, which includes a lawyer and a psychologist, carried out to assist the victim's family.

In addition to legal and psychological assistance, and helping the father process the payment provided by the Program for Urgent Support and Immediate Comprehensive Assistance in cases of Extreme Violence for Gender Reasons, provided by the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity of the Nation, they also brought them food.

Tiano requested that the province's critical care assistance unit provide the family with six beds, six mattresses, six sheets of corrugated metal roofing, men's and women's clothing, and shoes. "We also coordinated with the Orán Child and Family Services office to ensure the family continues to receive psychological support," the official stated.