(Guatemala) Authorities in Guatemala are investigating possible child abuse, sexual violence and forced marriages within Lev Tahor, a Jewish sect based on a property near the country’s capital, the state attorney’s office announced Wednesday.
A judge in Oratorio, 60 km southwest of Guatemala City, was able to enter Friday, but members of the unit prevented him from properly conducting his trial, Lucrecia Breira told AFP. Office of the Attorney General of Guatemala.
“We are very concerned about the situation within the community,” said Mr.me Brera.
According to him, “There are complaints in the community like (forced) marriage, pregnant girls, mistreatment.”
The Lev Tahor sect – which means “pure heart” in Hebrew – was formed in the 1980s and follows an ultra-Orthodox form of Judaism, where women in particular wear head-to-toe black clothing.
The group settled on Oratorio in 2016 after police and prosecutors conducted raids against several of its buildings in Guatemala that arrived in 2013. At the time, officials said they were acting on Israel’s request. For the missing minor.
According to Mme The current investigation follows a “cry for help” launched earlier in the year by a foreign national who said Breira was forced into marriage at the age of 13 and asked to return to his country.
The prosecution estimates that around fifty families of various nationalities are part of the community, which is home to hundreds of minors. On Friday, the judge counted 29 children but was prevented by the department from questioning them or examining their health.
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