On the afternoon of this Saturday, April 2, another alleged case of sexual abuse by members of the Colombian security forces was heard. On this occasion, the patrol boat Dayanis Vanessa De las Saltarín, reported having been sexually abused the previous weekend, by her colleagues from the Integrated Police Information System (Sipol).
The events would have been presented on Saturday, March 27, when the woman born in Puerto Colombia, (Atlántico), went out to a bar in the Restrepo neighborhood of Bogotá, with two uniforms from the institution who were part of the same specialty.
The patrol boat made the public complaint through its social networks. This is how the story of that night began: “From a very young age my biggest dream had been to be a policeman. Thanks to my parents, I managed to fulfill that great dream, but today, exactly eight days of total tragedy are being fulfilled.”
Once in the bar, Saltarín and the two agents of the National Police drank a bottle of whiskey, while talking normally. After some time inside the establishment, the woman loses her memory and ends up lying on a platform near the place.
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This was stated by the mother of the alleged victim, to the newspaper El Heraldo in Barranquilla: “She ended up on a street, there is a video in which the police officers, her companions, shouted vulgarities at her. After that they asked for a taxi and took her to the apartment where she lives and that's where the abuse took place,” said the mother.
In her public complaint, the uniformed woman wrote: “nobody knows what I experienced and I honestly don't want anyone else to live it, today I decided to make it public, with the intention that someone can help me, I'm very afraid, afraid of everything that might happen to me and my family,” she said.
“Since March 27, 2022, I have not been able to sleep, at all, I have lost my appetite and all because two people I considered friends at the time, raped me. And I wasn't to blame,” he continued.
On Sunday, when she woke up naked and without any memory, the officer learned that she had been raped. “I don't understand how being co-workers they could be able to. Being patrolmen too! Nor do I understand how the same Police, whom I love so much, doesn't help me speed up a process so that they can pay for what they did. I really need help. I can't do this anymore,” he finished his writing.
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Upon realizing the situation, Saltarín, went to the Police Clinic in Bogotá, to be evaluated by professionals. Once the medical appointment was over, he went to the Attorney General's Office to file the corresponding complaint, for the start of an investigation.
The mother told the media outlet that “she is very frightened. She fears for her life, they have been threatening her for having denounced her companions,” he said. So far, no information has been known from the National Police on this fact.
The most recent figures from the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation show that between January 1, 2010 and January 11, 2021, 249 complaints were filed against agents of the National Police. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, on the basis of these allegations, 212 officers were indicted; 109 policemen were charged with rape, 65 for sexual assault, 26 for aggravated rape, 11 for sexual assault with aggravation and one for rape with special circumstances of aggravation.
Data from the Attorney General's Office show that only 19% of cases reached a conviction. In this time period, 38 officers were convicted: 14 police officers for sexual offences: five for rape, five for aggravated rape, two for sexual assault and two for aggravated sexual assault.
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