Trans woman about to celebrate her 32nd birthday tortured to death in Mexico

A trans woman was tortured to death – her body carelessly ditched in an irrigation canal – in Mexico, leaving her loved ones in “great pain”.

Sarahí Atenea, 31, was found slain in the body of water that, officials say, has ties to “organised crime”. It runs through Lo de Villa, a town in the western state of Colima.

Her body, which had signs of torture, was found by passers-by last Saturday (11 December) along the Juárez Canal, commonly referred to locals as “death row”. Around her body, cardboard signs with threatening messages lay scattered.

Atenea was described by those who knew her as a nurturing, pathbreaking woman who always sought to encourage everyone around her to be themselves.

“You have left great pain in the family,” a relative wrote on social media, according to Presentes, a news outlet focusing on LGBT+ rights in Latin America.