Victims of live-streamed murder in Argentina laid to rest on eve of protest

Shocked and in tears, relatives on Sept 26 laid to rest two women and a girl whose live-streamed torture and murder caused an outcry in Argentina, where activists were planning a weekend protest against femicide.

- 

The bodies of Ms Morena Verdi and Ms Brenda Del Castillo, cousins aged 20, and 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez were found buried on Sept 24 in the yard of a house in a southern suburb of Buenos Aires, five days after they went missing.

The crime, which investigators have tied to narcotic activity, was perpetrated live on Instagram and watched by 45 members of a private account, officials said.

Investigators said the victims, thinking they were going to a party, were lured into a van on Sept 19, allegedly as part of a plan to “punish” them for violating a gang code, and as a warning to others.

Police discovered the Instagram broadcast after one of four detainees - two men and two women - revealed it under questioning, according to Mr Javier Alonso, security minister for Buenos Aires province.