Guatemalan authorities have resisted attempts by members of a Jewish sect to kidnap 160 children who were rescued from its premises.
These children were taken care of on Friday when the police raided the farm used by the organization Lev Tahor, which is being investigated in many countries for serious sex crimes.
Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez said it is suspected that they were tortured by a member of this cult.
But on Sunday, cult members broke into the care facility where they were being held and tried to get them back, which led to a clash with the police.
The Lev Tahor sect is known for its extreme practices and imposes a strict rule on its followers.
It encourages child marriage, imposes severe punishments for even minor offenses and requires women and girls as young as three years old to cover up completely.
The sect accuses the Guatemalan authorities of religious persecution.
The community settled in Mexico and Guatemala between 2014 and 2017. In 2022, members of this sect were arrested in a police operation in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, but they were later released due to lack of evidence.
The incidents started when the police raided the cult’s farm in Oratorio, southeast of Guatemala City, on Friday, taking care of the children.
Prosecutors said there were allegations of “forced pregnancy, child abuse and rape”.
But two days later, relatives of about 100 children – all members of this sect – gathered outside the center where they were being held to demand their return.
Some members of the cult then forcibly opened the gate and tried to kidnap the children and youths sheltered there, said the Office of the Prosecutor General.
But the children were stopped by the authorities and put in a white van, local media reported.
With the help of the police, the agency “was able to find and protect everyone again,” the Attorney General’s Office added.
Earlier, the officials had tried to check the health of the children, but they were prevented from entering the farm by members of the sect.
Authorities estimate that the community is made up of about 50 families living in Guatemala, the US, Canada and other countries.
The Jewish community of Guatemala issued a statement denying this sect, describing it as another country in its organization.
It expressed support for the Guatemalan authorities in carrying out the necessary investigations “to protect the lives and integrity of children and other vulnerable groups that may be at risk”.
Source link
