The mayor of a southern Mexico town allegedly beat his wife during a mother's day celebration, sparking national criticism and prompting federal authorities to urge the woman to file a complaint. Local media reported Wednesday that Enrique Hernandez, mayor of Petantepec in southern Chiapas state, punched and kicked his wife and pulled her hair during a mother's day concert Monday.
The national newspaper Reforma quoted another mayor at the event as saying Hernandez yelled at his wife, Estela Velasco, and then began hitting her at the public concert in the town of Pueblo Nuevo.
"I tried to help her but the mayor threatened me," Pueblo Nuevo Mayor Juan Alberto Morales told Reforma. "He beat her hideously. The lady didn't want to get any medical attention."
An official with the Chiapas state government's Institute for Women said Hernandez's wife confirmed the attack. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to discuss the case, said federal and state authorities urged Velasco to file a complaint against her husband but she had refused out of fear.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Hernandez denied he beat his wife, and then offered the reporter a bribe in exchange for a story denying local media reports.
"Call me and let me know how much it is and I can make you a deposit, OK?" Hernandez said. The reporter explained he was calling only to get Hernandez's version of what happened.
Later Wednesday, in an interview with Mexico City's Radio Formula station, Hernandez and his wife both denied anything happened during the mother day's celebration.
"It's not true, it's all lies," Velasco said. She said she has had nothing more than verbal fights with her husband.
The federal government's National Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Violence against Women condemned the reported attack and urged Velasco to file a complaint.
"It's regrettable that those responsible of guaranteeing people human rights, and specifically women's access to a life free of violence, are the ones violating them," the commission said in a statement Wednesday.
The commission asked Chiapas authorities to thoroughly investigate the case and guarantee Velasco's physical and psychological well-being.
