Thousands protest livestreamed murder of 2 women, young girl in Argentina

As thousands of people protested in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, demanding justice for the alleged drug gang’s live-streamed murder of two young women and a teenager, which was live-streamed on social media.

According to officials, hundreds of protesters took to the streets on Saturday to denounce the killings that shocked Argentinians after it was revealed that 45 private account users had watched the murders live on the Instagram platform.

Five days after they went missing, Morena Verdi and Brenda del Castillo, cousins of 20 years old, and Lara Gutierrez, 15, were found buried in a houseyard in Buenos Aires’ southern suburb on Wednesday.

The victims were allegedly lured into a van on September 19 by investigators as part of a plot to “punish” them for breaking gang rules and to give others a warning, according to investigators.

According to Javier Alonso, the security minister for the Buenos Aires province, police discovered a video of the triple murder after a suspect in the disappearance of the three revealed it was being interrogated.

A gang leader is heard saying, “This is what happens when I steal drugs from them,” in the video.

According to Argentinian media, the torturers beat and suffocated the victims while pulling out their nails and cutting off their fingers.

Despite the fact that the majority of protesters peacefully marched, some confronted police who attacked them by threatening them with their batons and shields, according to video and images from the online news site La Izquierda Diario.

Family members of the victims carried placards with the images of the three and banners with their names, “Lara, Brenda, Morena,” as they marched toward the Argentinian parliament with thousands of supporters.

The AFP news agency cited Brenda’s father, Leonel del Castillo, as saying to reporters at the protest, “Women must be protected more than ever.” Due to the torture his daughter had endured, he had previously claimed that he had been unable to identify her body.

“It was a narco-femicide,” the claim goes! read the protest’s sign. Another person said, “Our lives are not disposable.”

The protesters also slammed on drums during the demonstrations to denounce President Javier Milei’s “inaction” in response to what they called the country’s growing “narco” influence.

An image of Milei and other political allies of his administration was captured in a photo that was shared on social media.

The grandfather of the murdered 20-year-old cousins, Antonio del Castillo, was crying and described the killers as “bloodthirsty” in his granddaughters.

He remarked, “You wouldn’t do what they did to an animal to an animal.”

A fifth suspect in the case was identified as the third suspect, bringing the total to three men and two women, according to Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich’s announcement on Friday. The fifth suspect was detained in Villazon, Bolivia, on suspicion of providing logistical support for the killing by supplying a car involved in the crime.

A 20-year-old Peruvian who is still at large is also seen in a photo released by authorities.