A man killed his partner, then started a fire at their home and died in the blaze, according to Wálter Lenz, head of Bolivia’s Special Forces Against Violence in El Alto. The police chief said the preliminary findings point to the woman dying from mechanical asphyxia while the man’s death was due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
The event unfolded after a neighbor alerted authorities that the couple was found inside their residence in a neighborhood near La Paz, El Alto. Lenz noted that both bodies showed burn injuries consistent with second- and third-degree burns. The scene prompted prosecutors to classify the incident as a crime scene indicating a possible femicide followed by suicide.
In recent developments, another case emerged involving a 21-year-old woman who was pregnant at 40 weeks. Her partner left the country after the act. From January through September, prosecutors documented 62 femicides, with the highest numbers in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Cochabamba.
Bolivia has marked 2022 as a year to highlight cultural changes aimed at reducing patriarchal violence. The country continues to face high levels of gender-based violence, prompting ongoing legal and procedural reforms. A new proposal seeks to streamline adjudication by introducing a special criminal procedure that eliminates unnecessary steps and hearings to speed up trials and reduce delays in handling these cases. The government has historically enacted protections for women since 2013, and current discussions focus on strengthening these safeguards to improve accountability and reduce repeat offenses.