Jealous Dutchman explodes in anger in Colombia after message on girlfriend’s phone | Abroad

The incident happened on the night of Monday to Tuesday at a home in Barrancabermeja, a town in the northern department of Santander. Neighbors alerted the police when they heard loud screaming and shouting coming from their neighbor’s home. Officers rushed to the scene and found a woman on the ground with welts and red marks all over her body.

The Dutchman stood next to it and was immediately handcuffed on suspicion of assault. A video released by police shows the balding man with a tattoo on his upper right arm. Armed officers stand around him. At the end of the video he is taken to a police car in handcuffs.

The police take the abuse seriously and have issued a statement to the Colombian media. “We were alerted around 10 p.m. and found a 27-year-old woman with visible signs of physical violence,” the detective states. “The victim said her partner, a Dutch man, had hit her and damaged her mobile phone.” Investigation showed that the argument arose after the Dutchman had read or seen something on his girlfriend’s phone. What exactly is not clear in Colombian media.

Violence and oppression against women has been a major problem in Colombia for years. In order to intervene more quickly in the event of domestic violence, the police now work with a special system, also called Meri. This is a protocol that is automatically initiated when there is a suspicion of gender-based or domestic violence. Not only police officers but also detectives specialized in gender violence are automatically called to go to a crime scene.

In Barrancabermeja, the place of residence of the arrested Dutchman, domestic violence has been a long-simmering problem. It happens regularly. “We encourage our citizens to use dialogue from now on when there is a conflict. Especially in the homely atmosphere,” says the same detective. Colombian media report in their reporting another high-profile incident in which a mother was seriously abused by her own 16-year-old son. The teenager had, according to the Colombian platform Infobae repeatedly attacked his mother, leaving her seriously injured.

The Public Prosecution Service is initiating prosecution in the case of the Dutchman. He probably faces a prison sentence. Nowadays, there are severe penalties for domestic violence in Colombia. Teresa Diaz, director of the Colombian women’s rights organization Yo Mujer, says that “violence is a near-constant factor in the lives” of many Colombian women who have “sought shelter in a shelter,” according to the UN refugee agency’s website UNHCR.

Not only civilians but also police officers are regularly guilty of violence against innocent women, according to a 2021 report by Amnesty International. During a major strike in 2021, in which many women took to the streets, the human rights organization received hundreds of reports of gender-based violence , with “detailed information on psychological violence, discrimination, threats, touching, sexual harassment, forced nudity, torture and sexual violence,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.