3 young women in Argentina found murdered, tortured on Instagram livestream

Three young women in Argentina were found dead in a house on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires on Sep. 23.

Authorities said this was after they were tortured on a livestream to a private Instagram group of about 45 people, reported The Guardian.

Brenda del Castillo, 20, Morena Verdi, 20, and Lara Gutiérrez, 15, were first reported missing on Sep. 19.

They were reportedly invited to a "sex party" with a promise that they would be paid S$387 (US$300).

Investigators believe the perpetrators to be drug traffickers who planned the murders as punishment after one of the victims stole from them.

She was said to have stolen a package of cocaine from one of the dealers who is the alleged leader of a criminal group in a marginalised neighbourhood known as Villa 1-11-14.

“They were trying to send a message: this is what happens to those who steal drugs from me,” Javier Alonso, security minister of the province of Buenos Aires, said at a press conference.

The leader of the gang reportedly said this to the people watching the livestream, according to Buenos Aires Herald.

12 arrested

Two men and two women were initially arrested.

Two of them were at the home cleaning the aftermath of the crime when police arrived, while the other two are owners of the house, reported Buenos Aires Herald.

In a later report, Buenos Aires Herald said eight additional men were arrested.

The leader of the gang known as “Pequeño J” or “Julito,” is currently at large.

He is described as a Peruvian national aged around 23 years old.

The police are also looking for others involved in the crime.

Aftermath

The crime has sent shock waves through the country, which had typically not seen such extreme levels of narco violence common in other Latin American countries.

Feminist and human rights groups have organised protests across the country, demanding justice for the three girls.

“They took her away from me, and I want them to pay for what they did,” the mother of del Castillo told reporters, according to The Guardian.

Verdi’s mother, meanwhile, told the authorities that the three women were sex workers, Buenos Aires Herald reported.

Antonio, the grandfather of del Castillo and Verdi, was quoted by Buenos Aires Herald as saying:

“The ending we didn’t want has happened. They have taken two beautiful young things from our lives. And not just that they took them… Do you know what those girls must have suffered, the pain they must have felt in their bodies? And now, we want to ask for justice, but what justice can we ask for, if they grab the guy that sells 100 grams of drugs but they don’t touch the people bringing it into the country?”

Top photo from Buenos Aires Herald