The brutal killing of a seven-year-old girl whose body was found in a bag in Mexico City has sent shockwaves across the country days after a woman was dismembered by her partner.
The victim, named only as Fatima, was kidnapped as she was leaving her school in the capital on 11 February.
According to initial reports, the little girl was waiting for her mother to collect her but someone took her before her parent arrived.
Family members reported her disappearance but it was not until 15 February that her body was found in a plastic bag in the municipality of Tláhuac, southern Mexico City.
"It is outrageous, abhorrent, painful for someone to be able to hurt a girl. This crime will not go unpunished", the head of government of the Mexican capital Claudia Sheinbaum, tweeted Monday.
The governor said both the Ministry of Public Security and the City Attorney''s Office were working energetically to find the perpetrators of the crime and bring them to justice.
During his morning conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the event was "very unfortunate" and attributed the crime to "social and family problems".
"It is a social disease", the president added.
He said the essence of the problem had to be addressed and that Mexicans should strive "for the well-being of the soul to be happy".
He blamed this type of crime on the degree of social decay Mexico suffers.
"It is an effect of the neo-liberal model because crimes are not only solved with police and jails or a hard hand. We have to moralize", he continued.
On Monday, parents from the school where Fatima was kidnapped held a demonstration with banners that read: "Not one more. Enough is enough" and "We demand justice for Fatima" among several other slogans.
The case trended on social media with the hashtag #JusticiaParaFátima (Justice for Fatima), while family members are planning protests to demand further information and an investigation into the child''s murder.
Arturo Chávez Chávez, Attorney General of Mexico City, reported that as part of the inquiry investigative police officers completed the search of a building in the municipality of Xochimilco.
Personnel of the General Coordination of Expert Services "collected the necessary evidence" and they are working on the analysis of genetic samples to confirm the identity of the victim, he added.
Chávez Chávez said interviews were being conducted with residents of the searched property as well as with witnesses.
So far five people have testified before the Public Ministry official.
"The Attorney General of Mexico City is exhausting all lines of inquiry to punish anyone who has had any involvement in this crime", he said.
The murder of Fatima occurred a week after Ingrid Escamilla was allegedly killed and dismembered by her partner.
The case triggered feminist protests on Friday and Saturday in various parts of the country.
(María José Pardo)