Fire in Santa Rosa de Lima: couple detained as young woman remains in critical condition from burns
A 20-year-old woman remains hospitalised with severe burns at Cullen Hospital in Santa Fe. Her partner, aged 34, has been detained whilst the courts investigate the origin of the fire.
Cousin defends detainee and reveals frequent conflicts in the couple
A 20-year-old woman identified as N. M. C. remains hospitalised at Cullen Hospital in the city of Santa Fe with burns covering her entire body and a reserved prognosis, following the fire recorded in the early hours of Monday at a property on Estrada Street at number 1900, in the Santa Rosa de Lima neighbourhood. According to unosantafe.com.ar, her partner, E. E. C., aged 34, was also injured and was detained at Police Station 7 after giving a statement to police.
The investigation is progressing with new measures ordered by the courts to determine how the fire started. Neighbours in the area were the ones who alerted authorities to the incident. Officers from Sub-Station 2 and personnel from the Capital Radio Command attended the scene, who preserved the scene until firefighters arrived.
"He has no malice": the testimony of the detainee's cousin
A cousin of the man spoke to the press and claimed to be unaware of how the fire started. "I don't know much, to be honest I came across a horrible scene. Beyond what was said I don't know, and I don't know how it happened, how it started," she said.
The family member described the detainee as a person without a history of conflict with those around him. "As a cousin, an excellent person. Never any bad treatment with any neighbour or any customer. He's a mechanic, never a problem with anyone," she stated. She claimed that neighbours in the neighbourhood could attest to his usual behaviour.
When asked about a possible responsibility of the man in the fire, the woman was categorical: "I would burn my hands as a family member, no. He is a person who has no malice, has no malice." She also noted that in the hours immediately following the incident she could not communicate with her cousin because he was in a state of shock. "He wasn't speaking," she said.
Jealousy and frequent arguments in a one-year relationship
The cousin acknowledged that the couple, who had been living together for approximately one year, had conflicts regularly, although she clarified that she had no knowledge of previous complaints. "There were always conflicts between the two, but it always stayed there," she explained.
On the origin of the arguments, she pointed to jealousy as the main factor and directed blame towards the young woman as a source of that tension. "On her part, lots of jealousy, even with us being family," she stated. She added that the arguments were continual and audible to neighbours: "Continuously and the neighbours are witnesses to her living shouting all the time. Everything, there was no time of day."
The cousin tried to ask for help and no neighbour responded
The family member also recounted that it was she who tried to assist the man in the immediate moments after the fire and went out to seek help from the neighbours. "Yes, I went straight away to help, to ask the neighbours for help," she stated. However, she recounted that no one responded: "No neighbour came out to give me a hand."
The woman expressed that that situation caused her particular pain, given that she believed the neighbours in the area usually helped each other. "We are good neighbours to each other and whenever a neighbour has needed something, one has always been there. And it hurt me, that hurt me more," she said. She believed that the time of the incident—in the early hours of the morning—may have influenced the lack of response, although she said she was unaware of the specific reasons.
Firefighter experts and surveillance camera footage, key to the investigation
The prosecutor on duty ordered a series of measures to establish the origin and cause of the fire. These include fire expert assessments, medical reports, interviews with possible witnesses and a review of surveillance camera footage.
Investigators from the Santa Fe Police and the Public Prosecution Service (MPA) established the existence of public and private cameras in the vicinity of the property on Estrada Street at number 1900. Images captured before and after the fire could provide fundamental data to reconstruct what happened.
N. M. C. continues to be hospitalised at Cullen Hospital in critical condition. The courts will have to determine, based on the expert assessments and the rest of the evidence incorporated into the case file, how the fire occurred and what criminal responsibilities might apply.
Source: Google News PE — Lima