Fingers cut, nails pulled out: Buenos Aires rocked by protests after brutal murder of 3 women streamed on Instagram

A protest erupted on the streets of Buenos Aires after three women were tortured and murdered live on social media. Seeking justice, thousands joined the victims' families on Saturday, reported AFP.

Protest at Buenos Aires after 3 women killed

The relatives of the late women were spotted carrying a banner bearing the names Lara, Brenda, and Morena, alongside placards featuring their photos, as they marched to Parliament.

Protesters, led by a feminist collective, beat drums and held aloft signs declaring: “It was a narco-feminicide!” and “Our lives are not disposable!”

The incident has sent shock waves across the country.

Victims of live-streamed femicide

Morena Verdi and Brenda del Castillo, cousins aged 20, and 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez were found buried on Wednesday. Their bodies were found in the yard of a house in a southern suburb of Buenos Aires, five days after they went missing.

The crime was streamed live on Instagram. It was viewed by 45 users who followed the private account, reported the officers.

"Women must be protected more than ever,” said Castillo’s father, Leonel del Castillo, at the protest, as per AFP. Struggling to hold back tears, he recalled how he couldn’t even recognise his daughter’s body because of the brutality she suffered.

Antonio del Castillo, grandfather of the slain 20-year-old cousins, also broke down during the march. He called the killers “bloodthirsty.”

“You wouldn’t do what they did to them to an animal,” he was quoted as saying, before adding, “I still have hope the truth will come out. I ask people to stand with us.”

Suspects arrested

Previously, National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich confirmed the arrest of a fifth suspect, bringing the total to three men and two women in the murder case.

The latest arrest was made in Villazón, a Bolivian border town, where the suspect allegedly helped with logistics by providing a car.

Authorities also released the photo of the alleged mastermind, a 20-year-old Peruvian, who remains on the run, reportedly.

Investigators say the young women were tricked into getting into a van on September 19, on the pretext of a party. It is believed that they were targeted as part of a gang’s “punishment” for violating its code — a drug-related matter.

Police reportedly uncovered a video after a suspect confessed during interrogation.

In the footage, a gang leader coldly declares: “This is what happens to those who steal drugs from me.”

Going by Argentine media reports, the torture was described as gruesome, with victims being beaten, suffocated, having their fingers severed, and even nails pulled out.

However, Meta, Instagram’s parent company, has denied that the crime was livestreamed on their platform.

Why were 3 young women killed?

The victims’ cousin, Federico Celebon, told AFP that the young women sometimes resorted to sex work “to survive,” which their families didn’t know.

“They just had bad luck — they were in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people,” he said.

Some outlets also claimed that the women were invited to the party as prostitutes, a claim that has been called ‘victim-blaming’ by a section of people.

Reacting to the claims, Lara’s aunt, Del Valle Galván, clarified about the alleged ties to drugs or sex work.

“There is poverty in our neighborhood, yes. But what people are saying about Lara is false,” she said.

“We want justice. We don’t want cover-ups. We want the whole truth to be revealed and those responsible to pay. We are not afraid.”