Details of recent violence in the South’s Jalacte

The border community of Jalacte, located in a remote corner of the Toledo District, has been featured on several occasions during our nightly newscasts over the past month.  The latest homicide in the village involved a minor who was chopped on his head while using an outhouse adjacent to his home.  On Saturday night seventeen year old Mardoqueo Choc was attacked by two men following a misunderstanding.  The men, both wielding machetes, proceeded to hack the teenager before fleeing to the neighboring community of Santa Cruz across the Guatemalan border.  This is the second murder to be recorded in the area within a four-week period.  The previous incident occurred on July tenth when Guatemalan national Rafael Ack bludgeoned his sister-in-law Sabrina Ack with a piece of lumber following a dispute over a parcel of land.  The two had been embroiled in a heated argument after which Rafael swung at the twenty-two year old woman’s head knocking her unconscious.  Despite an attempt by residents to rush her to Punta Gorda Town Sabrina died en route to the hospital.  Her accused killer, like the aforementioned duo, has since absconded.  In a separate incident which also took place in that village a few weeks earlier, the corpse of a newborn was discovered in a yard belonging to Guatemalan national Juana Pop.  The body which later proved to be her baby was observed to be missing its extremities and was being dragged by a dog.  It was expected that charges relating to negligence would be levied against the thirty-one year old mother.