El Salvador’s supreme court has overturned a 30-year sentence for a teenage rape victim who was convicted of aggravated homicide after having a stillbirth.
Evelyn Beatríz Hernández Cruz, 19, was found guilty in July 2017 on the grounds that failing to seek antenatal care amounted to murder.
But on Friday the court ordered a new trial for Hernandez, who was released after almost three years in jail. She was greeted by activists chanting “Evelyn, you are not alone!”
During her trial, Hernandez said she had been repeatedly raped by a gang member and didn’t realize she was pregnant.
Hernandez, a high school student, gave birth into the toilet in April 2016 after falling ill with acute back and stomach pain.
Medical experts were unable to ascertain whether the foetus died in utero or in the moments after delivery.
The female judge accepted the prosecutor’s claims that Hernandez failed to seek antenatal care because she did not want the baby, and threw him into the toilet intending to kill him.
Abortion is illegal in all situations in El Salvador.
