Mexican mayor allegedly beats wife on mother’s day
The mayor of a southern Mexico town allegedly beat his wife during a mother’s day celebration, sparking national criticism and prompting federal authorities to urge the woman to file a complaint.Local media reported Wednesday that Enrique Hernandez, mayor of Petantepec in southern Chiapas state, punched and kicked his wife and pulled her hair during a mother’s day concert Monday.
The national newspaper Reforma quoted another mayor at the event as saying Hernandez yelled at his wife, Estela Velasco, and then began hitting her at the public concert in the town of Pueblo Nuevo.
“I tried to help her but the mayor threatened me,” Pueblo Nuevo Mayor Juan Alberto Morales told Reforma.
“He beat her hideously. The lady didn’t want to get any medical attention.”
An official with the Chiapas state government’s Institute for Women said Hernandez’s wife confirmed the attack.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to discuss the case, said federal and state authorities urged Velasco to file a complaint against her husband but she had refused out of fear.
