An indigenous woman in Mexico sentenced to six years and two months in prison for killing her rapist may not return to prison, as a judge suspended her sentence.

The judge suspended criminal proceedings at the request of the public prosecutor’s office, which reviewed the case again and decided to withdraw the charges.

The relatives of the deceased man can appeal.

The woman, Roxana R, was found guilty on May 15 of using excessive force to defend herself against her rapist in 2021.

According to the report, the woman, 23, first knocked the perpetrator unconscious, strangled him and finally tried to dismember the body.

She kept the body for at least 20 hours and then brought it in a plastic bag to the street.

The court acknowledged that the woman acted in self-defence when she killed her attacker in 2021 but said she used excessive force.

When the verdict came, the woman said, “It was my life or his life.”

She said she feared for her life and “only wanted to defend her life from a rapist.”

The single mother from the southern state of Oaxaca, supported by women’s organisations, spent nine months in pre-trial detention before being released for the trial.

(dpa/NAN)