How gangsters force women to marry strangers who will be killed for insurance
'21.06.2019'
Source: Air force
"In the next few hours you will become a widow, and you will have to get used to this role." This terrible phrase is often heard by a woman.m kidnapped by bandits of El Salvador. For them, it means the beginning of a new stage of a nightmarish story.
Just a few days ago, these women were forced to marry completely unfamiliar men who are now waiting for death. They will be killed for the sake of insurance for their lives, writes Air force.
The criminal group involved in these operations (which could well become the basis for the script of an action-packed film) received an eloquent name from the investigators: “Black Widows”.
On May 17, seven members of one of the country's largest criminal groups, Mara Salvatrucha, were sentenced to terms ranging from 15 to 30 years in prison on charges that can be called historic for the country and the entire region.
“This is the first conviction in El Salvador and Central America for forced marriage,” says Violeta Oliveras, head of the anti-kidnapping and human trafficking division of the Salvadorian prosecutor's office. According to her, the authorities had not previously recorded such crimes by armed gangs.
"You must cry!"
Two years ago, the Salvador Prosecutor’s Office managed to start an investigation into such a case thanks to the testimony of a young woman who managed to escape from her captors.
The girl from the rural area (her real name is not reported by the authorities, we will call her Monica here) decided to go to the capital San Salvador at the invitation of a woman who offered her a job as a housekeeper.
However, three weeks later, the girl was transferred to another house, where a man warned her that if she did not follow his instructions, her relatives would die.
The main indication was as follows: she must marry an unfamiliar man.
“After the refusal, the girl was subjected to physical, verbal, psychological and sexual abuse,” Violeta Oliveras told the BBC's Mundo Spanish Service.
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In parallel, the gang members had to fraudulently find a suitable husband for the girl. They promised the selected “bridegrooms” that their future wives would have a migration status allowing them to live in the United States, which would apply to their spouses.
After the wedding, the new wife, at the request of the gang, had to convince the spouse to insure her life in the bank so that their marital union would be complete. In just three or four weeks, the gangsters killed the husband. And here the most surrealistic part of this drama began.
“They were sent to a funeral where they had to behave like inconsolable widows. The girls were warned that they were being closely watched, so they should not deviate from their role, so that nothing would interfere with the payment of insurance, ”says Olivera.
"You must act like a wife, you must cry!" - instructed their captives members of the "Black Widows".
During the trial, the convicts did not admit their participation in the Mara Salvatrucha group. One of the alleged leaders of the gang, Esmeralda Flores, claimed that she was allegedly blackmailed after she hired Monica as a housekeeper.
“All this was done for money, the police were involved ... I was told that if I did not pay, I would be involved in the murders,” she told the Salvador Times Internet portal. According to her, Monica is a close relative of a certain police officer in El Salvador.
“This is the story of a servant who robs you, harms you, and then appears in front of the police as a victim,” says Flores.
100 Insurance Thousands of Dollars
After the death of their husbands, the women had to receive and cash out the insurance payments they received, the amount of which varies from 15 to 30 thousand dollars. Before that, they were instructed by lawyers associated with the bandits.
“After leaving the bank, they gave money to the bandits who were nearby. Most of them rode motorcycles. Sometimes they donated money directly to one of the leaders, ”explains Violeta Oliveras. She has no doubts that the money eventually went to the Black Widows.
“They gave insurance to this structure, which was part of Mara Salvatruch. We do not yet know whether all the money remained only there or was distributed among other divisions of the group. But they definitely fell into the hands of “Mara salvatrucha,” she says.
According to the prosecutor's office, the "Black Widows" managed to earn more than $ 100 on insurance, and part of this money was used to find new victims.
“The group rented luxury cars in which the female leader drove to bars, met men and began romantic relationships with them. Then she told her new “lover” that she had a certain niece who was ready to fictitiously marry him so that later they could leave for the USA together. A lot of men were led to it, ”says Oliweras.
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The captive who managed to escape, was able to indicate the house in which she was held. After that, the first arrests took place, and the police managed to release two more women in the same situation.
Their testimony pointed to two more victims whose cases will be heard in the second part of the process, scheduled for the end of the year.
However, the total number of women abducted by the Black Widows may be much higher.
According to Oliveras, the rescued women told the fate of other captives, who were killed by gangsters after a fake marriage and receiving insurance, so the investigation continues.
Criminal variety
The prosecution unit, which is headed by Oliveras, has registered annually from 2016 to 50 cases of kidnapping in El Salvador from 60 (40 cases were recorded this year). Mostly, abductions are committed for the purpose of sexual exploitation, but sometimes abducted are used as free labor.
Until recently, there was not a single case of forced marriage, which indicates the diversification of gang activity, the prosecutor's office notes. This contributes to the strict control of gangsters over large areas and the people living in them.
This is evidenced by the journalist of the Salvadoran electronic publication Faro Carlos Martínez. He admits that in eight years of trying to understand the criminal world and the social phenomenon of gangs, he has not seen a single such scenario, so he believes that this is not a universal criminal practice.
At the same time, in a conversation with the BBC, Martinez notes that over the past eight years, criminal groups have diversified their activities and mastered new methods for increasing earnings.
Martínez cites the example of women who were forced to care for the children of gangsters in prisons, or girls who were forced to visit prisoners of gangsters under the guise of their wives in order to sexually humiliate them.
“In some cases, they were forced to marry the bandits because the authorities only allow the wives of prisoners to visit the penitentiary centers. Given the huge number of tricks, tricks and criminal practices, I do not think that the Black Widows method is so unexpected, ”Martinez admits.
As Violeta Oliveras notes, against the background of the success of the historical judicial process, one should not forget about more important work: assistance to the victims of criminals. After liberation, the authorities provided them with housing and psychological support.
“They understand how difficult it will be for them to lead a normal life in this country, because they live in poor families who can hardly provide them with housing that does not fall under the authority of Mara Salvatrucha,” she says.
The prosecutor’s office is also working on the option of relocating these women to other countries, where they could receive asylum and protection as victims of violence.
