The Oaxaca State Attorney General’s Office (FGEO) activated its ministerial, police, and forensic response protocols—incorporating a gender perspective—following the discovery of the body of 20-year-old Zaira Marbeli Hernández Gaspar. Forensic medical examinations determined that the cause of death was strangulation.
The young woman, originally from the municipality of Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz, Oaxaca, was found on Tuesday night inside a rented room in a building located in the H3 sector of Santa Cruz Huatulco—a municipal agency within the municipality of Santa María Huatulco, Oaxaca. Zaira Marbeli was in her first semester of an International Relations degree program at the local campus of the Universidad del Mar (UMAR).
Following notification to the authorities, specialists from the Regional Vice-Prosecutor’s Office for the Coast arrived at the property in the H3 sector of Santa Cruz Huatulco to cordon off the area, collect biological evidence, and process the crime scene. Forensic medical examinations confirmed that death was caused by asphyxiation due to strangulation, ruling out natural causes and establishing the case as a potential femicide.
The Universidad del Mar issued an official statement expressing solidarity with the student’s family and offering condolences to the academic community. The discovery of her body sparked outrage among feminist collectives and students from outside the area who attend UMAR in Santa María Huatulco; they have announced plans for demonstrations to demand the swift identification of those responsible for the attack. As of now, state authorities have not reported any arrests, nor have they disclosed the lines of investigation regarding the individuals potentially responsible for the violence.
