The kidnapping of a 9 month old baby from his mother’s hands 13 years of age, keeps Costa Rican society and the authorities in shock in an intense search that has not yielded results, but that did generate the arrest of the adolescent’s stepfather.

Since the abduction of the minor last Sunday, the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and the Public Force have been searching farms and fields in the province of Cartago (center), without the baby having been located so far.

According to the family’s version, the mother was on a street selling numbers for a raffle, when a man he took the baby from his arms and fled to some fields in the Cervantes area, Cartago province.

The OIJ arrested a 34-year-old suspect named Cassasola on Monday, who is the stepfather of the 13-year-old teenager. This Tuesday a court ordered six months of pretrial detention against man.

This man is also being investigated for rape of the adolescent and have a DNA test pending to determine if he is the father of the abducted baby.

The director of the OIJ, Randall Zúñiga, told reporters on Tuesday that the main hypothesis is that Cassasola kidnapped the baby to avoid the paternity test and “evade justice”.

“He has an appointment tomorrow (Wednesday) to determine paternity test, is one of the hypotheses that we handle as a motive for the kidnapping of the minor. The test will always be carried out regardless of whether we have the baby,” Zúñiga said.

The OIJ director indicated that the girl’s mother is a victim of rape and gender violence. The Minister for Children and Adolescents, Gloriana López, affirmed that she is reviewing whether public institutions and the State in general gave a comprehensive response and took protection measures for both minors, and called to stop normalizing violence sexual and improper relationships.

“The whole country is shocked by the disappearance of the 9-month-old girl, the daughter of a 13-year-old teenager, who is also a girl. Two victims, one of kidnapping and the other of rape“Lopez said.

The minister urged society to move from astonishment at this case to action to protect minors in the country. “No more normalization of rape, improper relationships, teen pregnancy and other forms of abuse. Sexual violence is not normalwe must denounce it and protect the minors who are victims,” ​​he asserted.

The minister regretted that “these girls did not have a protective environment in their family, in their community or in their close groups” and that “on the contrary, they were exposed to carelessness and extreme negligence.”

This case has monopolized the coverage of the country’s media and has generated thousands of dismayed comments on social networks from public figures and the public in general.