MEXICO CITY – A 20-year-old woman jailed for killing the man who allegedly raped her has been released after posting bail, Mexican media reported.
Yakiri Rubio was released on Wednesday night from the women’s prison in Tepepan, a town located south of Mexico City.
Television networks showed footage of the young woman leaving the prison with her relatives, who came up with the money to post bail.
Rubio thanked her relatives and her attorney, Ana Katiria Suarez, for supporting her and believing in her innocence.
Suarez filed a motion to have the homicide reclassified as self-defense.
The case, which went viral on social-networking sites in Mexico, dates back to Dec. 9, when Rubio was attacked by two subjects as she walked in Mexico City’s Doctores district, taken to a hotel and raped, Suarez said.
Rubio shoved one of the assailants, identified as Miguel Angel Ramirez Anaya, as he raped her at knifepoint, causing him to cut his neck, the attorney said.
Ramirez Anaya died from the wound a short time later, Suarez said.
A judge released Rubio on bail of 423,800 pesos ($32,000) amid pressure from grassroots organizations and lawmakers.
The judge agreed to release the young woman on bail after a higher court in the Federal District ruled that the charge should be changed to “homicide by excess of self-defense,” judicial officials told Efe.
The proceedings are expected to resume on Thursday and the defense plans to file a motion for an “acquittal based on legitimate self-defense,” Suarez told Efe.
Numerous irregularities occurred in Rubio’s arrest and there are “deficiencies in the investigation,” the attorney said, adding that prosecutors did not follow the rules for handling a crime against a woman.
The case will be followed closely to ensure that Rubio’s due process rights are not violated, Federal District Human Rights Commission president Perla Gomez said.