On September 14, 2024, Cayambe, Pichincha province, was the scene of a lynching that has generated great controversy. Luis V., a man accused of murdering the transporter Patricio Iguango, was brutally beaten and hanged in the central square of the canton by an angry crowd.


The body of Iguango, who disappeared on September 12, had been found in a ravine days before, which provoked the fury of the community. A second man was detained by the community and confessed to the authorities where the transporter's body was located.


The Prosecutor's Office announced that it is "carrying out proceedings" for the lynching that occurred in Cayambe. While the legal situation of the other person involved will have to be resolved later.


The Police had handed the suspects over to the community to be tried according to indigenous justice. However, the process got out of control, and the population, outraged by the crime, ended up killing one of the accused men.


Luis V. was stripped of his clothes, beaten and hung in front of the municipal building, where he remained for several hours before being removed by the authorities.


Witnesses claim that the suspect was still alive when he was hanged, which has generated outrage among some sectors, who see this act as an example of the dangerous lack of control in these procedures. Others, however, justify the lynching as a response to the ineffectiveness of the judicial system.


This episode has once again put the use of community justice in Ecuador at the centre of the debate, especially in rural areas where distrust of state institutions is high. Although the authorities have announced an investigation, it has not yet been confirmed whether measures will be taken against those responsible for the execution.


The case of Cayambe is just one of many that show the tension between traditional forms of justice and the ordinary judicial system, a constant challenge in some communities in the country.