The crowd stormed the city hall and decapitated the murderer of the grandmother and granddaughter

Residents of the municipality of Ostupakan in the Mexican state of Chiapas staged a lynching of two men who were suspected of killing a 55-year-old woman and her 12-year-old granddaughter. According to Milenio, the rioters broke into the building of the municipal administration, where the detainees were, and took them to the square.

According to local media reports, both alleged killers were beaten. One of them, known as El Sera, died on the spot. Milenio, Telediario and Quadratín reported that he was beheaded. The second suspect, nicknamed El Melo, was captured by police. He was hospitalized under guard.

During the riots, protesters set fire to the back of the administration building. Electricity and communications were also temporarily cut off in the village. Residents accused local authorities of inaction: relatives of the victims claimed that police refused to start searching for the missing for 72 hours.

Miriam Cruz Alpuce and her granddaughter, Ariana, went missing on October 19 when they went to the family ranch. The body of the woman was found on October 21 near the river. She died of stab wounds to her neck. The remains of the girl were found two days later, about 600 meters from the place where the grandmother was found. According to Quadratín, the child was strangled, traces of sexual abuse were also found on the body. However, the prosecutor's office has not officially confirmed this information.

Chiapas Attorney General Jorge Luis Ljaven Abarca said on October 25 that the investigation considers personal revenge by El Melo as the main motive for the double murder. According to law enforcement officers, the suspects tracked down women in rural areas. The newspaper La Jornada reported that the cause of the conflict could be a dispute over the ownership of cattle.

UnoTV said the prosecution intends to seek El Melo's maximum sentence of 100 years in prison. In addition, the authorities opened a separate criminal case in connection with the lynching and death of Andres. Governor Eduardo Ramirez Aguilar urged residents not to administer justice on their own.