A teenage girl, who was burned alive by her ex-partner, breathed her last in the hospital where she was being treated, after five days of an unequal battle with death. The perpetrator is on the run and Peru’s Minister of Women’s Affairs denounced the delay in the investigations to locate him.

Katerine Gomes, 18, was admitted to a hospital last Saturday with burns on 60% of her body. “She fought to stay alive, but unfortunately, the extent of her injuries did not allow the doctors to save her and we have been informed of her death,” announced Minister Nancy Tolentino, speaking to the RPP television channel.

According to the police, the attacker is a 19-year-old from Venezuela, who escaped after dousing Gomez with gasoline and setting her on fire near the 2nd of May Square in Lima.

A few days earlier the 18-year-old had decided to end their relationship.

The minister expressed her regret that the arrest warrant for the attacker was only issued yesterday, Thursday, five days after the attack. “The police have promised me that they will do everything to find him,” he added.

The minister urged women “when there is a rift” not to agree to meet their ex-partner alone. “Don’t go to a meeting alone when you want to break up with a violent man, don’t believe him when he says ‘let’s talk, I’ll explain’.”

According to official statistics, Peru saw 136 femicides in 2022, up from 146 in 2021 and 138 in 2020. By comparison, in France, a country with twice the population (67 million compared to Peru’s 33) femicides reached 122 in 2021.