Two teens trapped in a brothel escape in Mexico, forcing the country to take a long hard look at its sex trade problem and to have harsher laws against it.
Teens Trapped in a Brothel Escape in Mexico – photo by barracudabrigade.blogspot.com
According to CNN, two teens, cousins who will remain anonymous, were waiting by the highway for their early evening bus home when they say a semi-tractor trailer stopped right in front of them and two men got out. According to one of the teens, who CNN named Maria, “They were two men who were wearing black masks like hoodies. We couldn’t see their faces.” The other teen, who CNN named Lupe, stated that, “I only felt that they put something on my nose and that’s all I remember. The last thing I remember is yelling for help.”
As they were drugged and drifting in and out of consciousness, the masked men were transporting them to a dark and cold room where they were kept for several days with no food or water. After that time past, an older woman walked in on them telling the teens that from that point forward, they were working for her. At that moment, Lupe was taken out of the room and an older man walked in and took hold of Maria and beat her and then raped her according to her account. She was then threatened by the both the woman and man, ordering her to cooperate.
As though the previous acts of abuse toward Maria weren’t disturbing enough, that same night the young teen was forced to have sex with 23 men. ”When they left, I stayed there, lying on the floor, bleeding. My entire body ached. The woman told me to get up, that it hadn’t been that bad.” That was only the beginning according to the teens, who were tortured and trapped in the brothel for several months before their escape. They were sold and abused, where both of them were forced to have sex with multiple men every night.
While both teens were under intense circumstances, their families were desperately searching for them. The families organized searched parties and looked throughout the town and into the woods, worrying that the teens were lost or killed. Francisco, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, was horrified at what he saw while he was searching for his daughter: ”We would see young girls. There are many in the state of Morelos. Some of them were wearing masks. Others had their hair dyed and wore suggestive clothing.”
After being kidnapped on January 27, 2010, Maria finally found her way out. On April 14, 2012, she woke up to see a ray of light in the room coming from behind an armoire and pushed it out of the way, where she found an unlocked door and made a dash for safety. She ran into a young group of Christian men who fed her, gave her a room to stay the night and bought her a bus ticket home. Once home, Maria told both families what happened, who then went to the police and raided the brothel.
Lead prosecutor Victor Carranca, the state attorney in Puebla State, said that she will seek out the harshest punishments for these criminals as a means to deter the growing industry of sex trafficking. Carranca said in a statement to the press, “The State’s Attorney’s office focused on targeting sources of financing for these criminal groups. We eventually closed down 600 establishments. Many of these places were not only illegal brothels, but meeting points where criminal gangs planned their crimes and illegal activities.”
Both teens are now safe at home and receiving medical, psychological and financial relief after the gruesome ordeal they suffered through.
Teens Trapped in a Brothel Escape in Mexico Pushes Country for Harsher Punishment.
