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Juan David Rojas was his son, yes, he was in jail for breaking the rules, he was locked up for what he did, “but he did not deserve to die like that, in the middle of the flames, in a cell full of people, before the indifferent gaze of some policemen “, said his mother trying to explain that nothing justifies letting a person burn while alive.
This young man had been taken, first, to the Ciudadela Sucre police station for having left his home while serving a sentence at home. “There we were very worried because they were treating the inmates very badly. I denounced all these abuses, I have evidence.”
This mother reported that her son had been injured by other inmates there. “By August 18, 2020, he had received three stabs and several blows. I have proof of all that.”
It was for this reason that this woman decided to request a transfer for her son to another police station. “Of course, I could never have imagined that the remedy was going to be worse than the disease and that he was going to leave there dead.”
Although this woman fought to the end to be put back in jail because her son had mental problems, suffered from bipolar disorder and suicidal ideation, she never succeeded. “So I had to accept that they would take him to the San Mateo de Soacha station.”
There he arrived on August 27, 2020. “But then I found out that they had to take him from the emergency room to the hospital due to the aftermath of the beating he had received. He had severe kidney injuries. They treated him and he returned on Thursday, September 3. in the morning hours, but that same night he was beaten again, this time by the police from the San Mateo station. “
But that was as a sign of protest, it was a very slight flame. Then we learned that an agent approached and that he activated something that spread the fire, a small explosion sounded
So it was that that Friday, September 4, 2020, the young man’s family decided to arrive at the station to bring him food and some personal items. “When we arrived, the complaints from the prisoners were terrible. They managed to inform us that they took their things, that they were given spoiled food and only one meal.” This woman says that this station is located in a kind of conditioned house and that there is only one cell for eight people in which they had more than 16.
All these complaints of mistreatment heated the spirits not only of the prisoners, but of their families. That was why one of the inmates, according to this woman’s version, took a small piece of blanket. “But that was as a sign of protest, it was a very slight flame. Then we learned that an agent approached and activated something that spread the fire, a small explosion sounded, but very slight because it did not cause damage to the glass. it made the flames grow, “he said.
Such a scene made the relatives of the prisoners react to put out the flames. “It is a lie that the policemen came in to help or assist them. When they took them out they were already totally burned.”
As they could, the mothers of the family began to break the glass and two more men were the ones who tried to remove a fence and who entered with fire extinguishers to try to appease the flames. “But there was nothing to do, they were already burned.”
This woman was one of those who tried to break the windows of the station to save her son and even tried to activate a hose to irrigate water. “I remember a policeman so much, he told me: ‘see if you can break it, that’s armored.’ At that moment, I was so outraged that I hit it harder and I was able to break it.”
From one moment to the next, this woman watched everything in slow motion. “I saw my son leave the cell like an entity. A first aid woman tried to remove pieces of his shirt that had adhered to his body, then I saw that he led him to the ambulance, there I approached and he managed to say his last words: ‘mommy, don’t cry anymore’ “.
The young man had all his vital organs compromised. Juan David Rojas died three days later in a hospital. “My whole life has changed. You don’t bring a child into the world to die under those circumstances. I was beginning to live, I was only 25 years old.”
Despite the mistakes he had made, this young man was a financial and banking technician and a kitchen assistant. “Her dream was to start her own restaurant and have a stationery store. She had two children, her baby had recently been born.”
This woman always knew that this complaint was not going to be easy. “They judge them because they were young people who were behind bars, who had broken the law, who go to jail to re-socialize, but they were paying for that. All human beings have made mistakes and we deserve a second chance. No one deserves to be burned to death. like that. ”
Finally, this woman, who prefers to hide her identity, says that on the day of the fire there were more than 20 police officers present. “It was shift change and they had also called in reinforcements from other stations. If they had wanted to save our children, they would have done so.”
CAROL MALAVER
SUB-EDITOR OF BOGOTÁ
Write to us at [email protected].
In context:
What happened on September 4 at the Soacha police station?
Police say 8 detainees have died after fire in CAI of Soacha
