Mexico court sentences woman, 23, to six years in prison for killing man who raped her, saying she used ‘excessive’ force and could have just hit him on the head
- Roxana Ruiz was sentenced to six years in prison on Monday for the murder of Sinai Cruz at her home in Mexico State, Mexico
- The 23-year-old mother was escorted to her home by Cruz, a colleague, in May 2021 and she allowed him to stay before he beat and raped her
- Ruiz’s lawyer said they will appeal Judge Mónica Osorio’s ruling
A young woman will spend the next six years behind bars in Mexico for killing a man who assaulted and raped her at her home two years ago.
Roxana Ruiz is appealing against the verdict, which was handed down on Monday by Judge Mónica Osorio in the state of Mexico.
“I feel sad, disappointed in (the) justice system, they locked me up for nine months, they gave me a sentence,” she said after the court hearing. “If I hadn’t defended myself, I would have been dead.”
Her lawyer, Ángel Carrera, fears Osorio’s ruling could set “a bad precedent” in the future if not reversed.
“It sends the message to women that, you know what, the law says you can defend yourself, but only up to a point,” he said. “He raped you, but you have no right.”
Judge Osorio supported her sentencing, indicating that Ruiz “could have hit him on the head to defend himself and left him unconscious would have been enough.”
She also ordered Ruiz to make a $16,000 reparation payment to Sinai Cruz’s family.
Roxana Ruiz is appealing a six-year prison sentence handed down Monday by a Mexican court, two years after she killed her colleague, Sinai Cruz, who assaulted and raped her in her home
Judge Mónica Osorio (pictured) said Roxana Ruiz should have punched her rapist, Sinai Cruz, in the head instead of strangling him with a shirt to defend herself during the May 2021 attack in the bedroom of her home
The 23-year-old single mother was having a drink with a friend in a neighborhood bar on May 8, 2021, and ran into Cruz on her way home.
Cruz offered to walk her home, then insisted she let him stay the night because it was late and his hometown was too far away.
Once inside, Cruz insisted he be allowed to sleep in her bedroom and a frightened Ruiz relented and gave him a blanket to lie on. At one point, Cruz jumped on the bed and attacked and raped Ruiz, who fought back by punching him in the face and smothering him with a shirt until he was dead.
She bagged Cruz’s body and dragged it onto the street, where a police officer on patrol took her into custody despite telling him she had been raped.
Ruiz was charged with murder and spent nine months in jail, but was paroled prior to trial.
She accused police of making her relive the horrific attack, claiming that an officer told her she wanted to have sex with Cruz before backing off. She also said they repeatedly failed to allow access to a medical exam that would have confirmed her accusation against Cruz.
Roxana Ruiz took part in a march in the state of Mexico in July 2022 to support Diana Velazquez, who was kidnapped from her home in 2017 before being raped and killed
In a 2022 interview with The Associated Press, Ruiz acknowledged regret for her actions, but said she had no choice as she would have been dead.
“Clearly the state wants to shut us up, wants us to be submissive, wants to lock us up inside, wants us dead,” she said.
Mexican government data shows that 3,754 women — an average of 10 a day — were murdered in 2022. Only a third were investigated as femicide.
“When a woman defends herself, the system is particularly efficient at processing and sentencing her without regard to the circumstances in which she killed the man,” Angelica Ospina, gender fellow for International Crisis Group in Mexico, told The Associated Press.
Ruiz has 10 days to file her appeal and could follow the proceedings outside of prison, although she must appear in court every 10 days.