Teenage victim, Evelyn Beatríz Hernández Cruz is set to continue her trial on Friday, and she is accused of purposely causing her baby to be born as a stillbirth, which is considered murder in El Salvador. She maintains her innocence, and further claims she didn’t even realize that she was pregnant but that the birth was a result of forced physical contact.
“I’ve told you all I’m innocent. My goal is to keep studying. I ask the prosecutors to be conscious of this,” Hernandez said Thursday.
“I am innocent. I know he will be fair and, with the grace of God, everything will be okay. I’m innocent,” she said.
Hernandez says that she was assaulted in 2015 in the beginning year of college. The following year, in 2016, when Hernandez was 18 years of age on August 6th, she gave birth in the latrine of her home, which was located in a small rural community. In El Salvador, ab0rt!on is illegal without a circumstance.
Her lawyers have affirmed Hernandez’s innocent and also says that she had no prior knowledge of her pregnancy and that because of that, she shouldn’t be considered guilty. And prosecutors argue that because she refused to seek care during the pregnancy, she is guilty of murder.
In her original trial, Hernandez explained that she had been physically assaulted repeatedly and by a gang member and because of this she was in fear for her life. She says that she feared if she came forward about the assault, that he may have retaliated.
Medical experts could not determine if the child was dead inside of her, or the baby had passed away after being born. She has now served 33 months of her initial 30-years sentence, but she was freed last February after the team defending her presenteed an appeal before the supreme court, requesting another trial.
If she is reconvicted, she will continue to serve out the rest of her sentence, or possibly receive a new conviction from the judge. Outside of the courthouse, a group of women who have been following her for the past few years, and supporting Hernandez and other victims who have fell prey to an alleged unjust law.
Teenage assault victim, Evelyn Beatríz Hernández Cruz is set to continue her trial on Friday, and she is accused of purposely causing her baby to be born as a stillbirth, which is considered murder in El Salvador. She maintains her innocence, and further claims she didn’t even realize that she was pregnant but that the birth was a result of assault.
“I’ve told you all I’m innocent. My goal is to keep studying. I ask the prosecutors to be conscious of this,” Hernandez said Thursday.
“I am innocent. I know he will be fair and, with the grace of God, everything will be okay. I’m innocent,” she said.
Featured Image Via Centro Judicial