By: Pablo A. Proaño
On September 11th, the Ecuadorian lawyer María Belén Bernal was last seen alive. She went to the Police Academy Alberto Enríquez Gallo, in Quito, Ecuador’s capital city, in the early morning.
She went alone, allegedly to confront her husband, lieutenant Fernando Cáceres, about an affair. Her body was discovered eleven days later in a gully nearby the Academy with signs of strangulation. Her husband, who was also an instructor at the Police Academy, is now a fugitive and the government has offered a reward for any information leading to his location.
Despite the fact that in 2022 there were 264 homicides of women in Ecuador, 59 of which are femicides,, this case is the only one that has shaken the national Police Department and the Government to its roots. The Ecuadorian President gave a public apology, and removed his Ministry of Government and two police generals of the highest rank from their positions. In addition, the Police commander and 300 officers are under evaluation.
But, why is this case so relevant? Why has the body of the lawyer viewed in the Central University’s theater? Why was María Belen’s mother, Elizabeth Otavalo, invited to speak three times in the National Assembly some days after the murder?
Due to the fact that the Bernal case has shown to the public the cultural and institutional deficiencies of the Police Department. Firstly, because there were at least a dozen policemen hearing the screams and blows coming from Cáceres’ room while his wife was inside and did not intervene, not to bother “marital issues”. Secondly, there was a witness, the police officer that had a romantic relationship with the suspect. She said she left the room after María Belén came in and heard all that happened, without intervening. She is the only person arrested for this crime so far
During the investigation, it was clear that after the screams stopped, Cáceres had enough time (and help) to leave the Academy, and buy stuff to clean the crime scene, wrap the corpse, take it to his car, give testimony to his superiors, and leave to hide the corpse and become a fugitive. The superiors told the Public Prosecutor’s Office that they did not know about the crime and had no reason to arrest him, in a clear attempted cover-up.
This case is a shame, not only for the Police Department, but also for the Government and for our country. Meanwhile, the opposition parties are giving the case a political view in order to discredit the government.
While politicians keep discussing preventive measures, Cáceres roam freely and the general population, especially women, continue to fear being unprotected by the ones who swore to “serve and protect”. President Lasso said that the Government will enforce its policy on the prevention of gender violence and we hope that after Cáceres’ judicialization and one of the other officials involved, the Police Department cleans his name.
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