Sergio Tarache Parra in the custody of the Colombian police, on April 11.MininterPeru (Twitter)
On Saturday March 18, the streets of downtown Lima witnessed a macabre act.
A man sprayed gasoline and set his ex-partner, an 18-year-old girl, on fire.
While people passing by desperately tried to put out the flames that had engulfed Katherine Gómez, Venezuelan Sergio Tarache Parra, 19, fled at a fast pace without anyone stopping him.
From there began a chain of negligence that is under suspicion: the Prosecutor's Office requested his arrest four days later, the Judiciary issued an arrest warrant on the fifth day and Judge Washington Esquerra Puente de la Vega took 12 days to prevent him from leaving the country.
Amid widespread consternation, the Minister for Women, Nancy Tolentino, made statements lacking in empathy.
"We would like young women to choose well who to be with, because they also have to be aware that they deserve to live free of violence."
Peruvian Katherine Gómez died a week after the attack, due to second and third degree burns on 60% of her body.
“The last thing she said to me at the hospital was: mom, calm down, I'm fine.
She knew that she was not well, she has endured the pain.
But no matter how much she fought, her body was no longer enough, ”said Cinthya Machare, her mother, who from day one began a fierce fight to demand justice for the eldest of her three children.
The Rewards Program of the Ministry of the Interior offered 50,000 soles to anyone who provided valuable information to locate Sergio Tarache.
For weeks the only thing the Police repeated was that they were carrying out intelligence actions.
But Tarache hadn't been in Peru for a long time.
On Tuesday, April 11, the femicide was arrested by Colombian agents in Bogotá, after remaining missing for 24 days.
His mistake: bragging about his crime.
"Suddenly a citizen approached us and informed us that he heard a subject, with a Venezuelan accent, say that he had committed a homicide in Peru," commented the security forces, who intervened in the town of Barrios Unidos.
Initially, Tarache said his name was José Gabriel Viña, but later his identity was verified through his fingerprints.
In his statements, Tarache shows zero regret.
He has said that he attacked Katherine Gomez because she wanted to go to a party with some friends.
"I'm going to burn your legs.
You don't respect me,” he told her.
Then, in the vicinity of Plaza Dos de Mayo, he took a trunk from a vehicle, bought gasoline at a tap, sprayed it and set it on fire with a lighter.
Tarache worked in the area as a passenger puller.
Katherine Gómez's parents are in Colombia, where they have traveled to pressure the Colombian authorities to expel their daughter's murderer to Peru, where he already has a requirement of nine months in pretrial detention for the crime of aggravated femicide.
This Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. the deadline for the Government of the neighboring country to resolve the administrative expulsion of the Venezuelan expires.
The General Directorate of Peruvian Communities Abroad maintains that it is the most recommended route because it is the most immediate, unlike judicial extradition, which could take several months.
The complexity of the matter is that there is a possibility that Tarache will be expelled to his country of origin.
"What we are trying at this moment is that the diplomatic channel, which is a channel for negotiation and appealing to goodwill, is not interrupted with actions of a different nature," said Alberto Farje, director of said institution.
For his part, Javier Arévalo, president of the Judiciary, rules out obstruction on the part of Colombia.
“I believe that the president of Colombia could not protect a criminal.
He would have to hand it over (…) These situations cannot be allowed to arise, because otherwise anyone who commits an outrage against a woman would flee to another country and nothing would happen, ”he said.
Meanwhile, Cinthya Machare, Katherine's mother, has said with courage: “I made a promise to my daughter.
I will cry what I have to cry, but at her time.
I will swallow my tears and do justice."
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