Two boys charged with raping two-year-old in Mexico

Mexico City, May 26 (IANS/EFE) Prosecutors in the southeastern Mexican state of Quintana Roo have charged two boys, ages 12 and 13, with raping their two-year-old cousin, officials said.

The boys were placed in the custody of their mother and grandmother because the law prohibits holding children younger than 14 in jail.

The boys face trial before a family court judge and have been prohibited from leaving Cancun, the Quintana Roo attorney general's office said in a statement.

The victim's mother, Maria de Jesus Rodriguez Geronimo, has staged a series of protests in the Caribbean resort city to shed light on the case and demand justice for her daughter.

"They raped and since they now know that (future victims) are going to talk, now they might even kill. They hurt my daughter and I don't want them to keep hurting other girls. One of them abused his own sister, two of his cousins, and one of them is pregnant. I don't know how far along she is, but I know she is (pregnant) because one of my sisters confirmed it from Tabasco," Rodriguez Geronimo said.

The boys arrived in Cancun from Cardenas, a city in Tabasco state, where they lived with their grandmother, who "was no longer able to handle them", Rodriguez Geronimo said.

Relatives of the toddler plan more protests, including a rally at Cancun City Hall on Wednesday, to draw attention to the case.

--IANS/EFE

vr