Three Taxi Drivers Charged for Torturing and Murdering Trans Woman in Boyacá

Adriana “La Biopo” Díaz was the woman, of Venezuelan nationality, who, after a discussion with a group of taxi drivers, was brutally attacked by three of them. The severity of the beatings received resulted in Adriana's death. The events took place in the Ricaurte sector, in the southwest of Tunja.

Lizeth Nathalia Franco Reyes, director of the Boyacá Prosecutor's Section, said that on April 19, the hearing on charges for the crime of torture against the three taxi drivers who had participated in the beating will be brought forward in the early morning of June 28, 2021.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the trans woman was killed with a blunt weapon after one of the drivers asked other taxi drivers for help, because, allegedly, Adriana would have stolen it.

But, the National Institute of Legal Medicine managed to establish in the autopsy findings, that the murder was triggered not by beatings, but by the correlation between the stress situation and cocaine use. “It was allowed to target a cause of death associated with a cardiovascular disorder such as cardiac arrhythmia.”

“From the moment the incident occurred, interviews, inspections, statements, video collection, legal medicine requirements and a request for a hearing were carried out since November to link the three taxi drivers,” said director Lizeth Franco. He added that the three taxi drivers linked to the inquiry process are at large and are notified to attend the indictment hearing.

A video published by the GAAT Foundation (Trans Action and Support Group), shows the brutality of attacks by a group of more than three drivers, who were present by the National Police. The Foundation said, on its Twitter account, that Adriana was not treated at the hospital because she was a migrant.

According to the NGO Colombia Diversa, between 2019 and 2020, 448 people from the LGBTI community were victims of violence in Colombia. The analysis shows factors such as critical overcrowding and the dissatisfaction of basic needs, such as what increases the risk of violence against members of that community.

, says Colombia Diversa.

Without LGBTI Violence, it is an entity that brings together human rights organizations from eleven countries in the Americas, which warned about this “unstoppable and incomprehensible violence”. Between 2014 and 2020, 3514 people in the community were murdered. 87% of these events occurred in Colombia, Mexico and Honduras.

The Directorate of Social Development, Gender Branch, published a report on the situation of the trans population in Colombia,

, concluded the analysis.

It also ensures that trans people feel discrimination in their daily lives, from the moment they leave their homes or in routine situations, for example: when they go to school, to the doctor or go outside. This population feels mistreated, disrespected and insecure.

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