Police in Belmopan have detained three people following a report from a 23-year-old woman who was held captive and abused for eight days by her husband and his parents. The investigation began after officers responded to an incident on John Saldivar Boulevard, where they found the woman with injuries to her hands and feet. She reported being physically and sexually abused, tied up, and held against her will by the three family members until October 23.
The woman’s ordeal started when she attempted to leave her husband on October 15. After seeking refuge at her parents’ home and finding no one there, she was forced to return to her in-laws’ house. There, her father-in-law, a Guatemalan pastor based in Belmopan, allegedly tied her up and locked her in a small space under the stairs. Over the next few days, she was reportedly assaulted and sexually harassed by the pastor. She was also deprived of food, surviving on chips given to her by children, and was left in her own excrement with no access to a shower.
News Five visited the residence on John Saldivar Boulevard. We spoke to a shocked neighbour who told us her entire family is surprised by the unfortunate news. “He is not a pastor. He can see it in his face. He is not a pastor,” the neighbour added. “He is a bad neighbor. He is a bad, bad neighbor. He used to like to kill our animals. He was bad with the animals. Poor little animals.” The neighbour says the pastor killed their dog and chickens.
Another neighbour told News Five that the pastor is not “really friendly to anybody.” They added that they haven’t seen the young mother for quite some time. “Long time I haven’t seen that young lady. I thought they had left or they had separated, but for a long time I have not seen them.”
The Belize Police Department told the press that the victim was given a police medical legal form and transported to the Western Regional Hospital, where she remains in stable condition. The investigation is ongoing.
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