Burn Baby Burn.

[Spike88]

A Spanish mother has taken revenge on the man who raped her 13-year-old daughter at knifepoint by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight. He died of his injuries in hospital on Friday.

Antonio Cosme Velasco Soriano, 69, had been sent to jail for nine years in 1998, but was let out on a three-day pass and returned to his home town of Benejúzar, 30 miles south of Alicante, on the Costa Blanca.

While there, he passed his victim's mother in the street and allegedly taunted her about the attack. He is said to have called out "How's your daughter?", before heading into a crowded bar.

Shortly after, the woman walked into the bar, poured a bottle of petrol over Soriano and lit a match. She watched as the flames engulfed him, before walking out.

The woman fled to Alicante, where she was arrested the same evening. When she appeared in court the next day in the town of Orihuela, she was cheered and clapped by a crowd, who shouted "Bravo!" and "Well done!"

A judge ordered her to be held in prison and undergo psychiatric tests, provoking anger from friends and neighbours, who have set up a petition calling for her release.

Soriano suffered 60 per cent burns in the attack on June 13 and was airlifted to a specialist unit. He survived for 11 days before succumbing to his injuries.

It is understood that the woman, who cannot be named because of laws safeguarding the identity of rape victims, claims to have no recollection of the attack which took place in the Bar Mary, just 300 yards from the family home.

As decorators painted over the blackened walls of his bar last week, Antonio Ferrendez Lopez told how Soriano had walked in at lunchtime.

"The place was packed with people eating. I was sitting at a table and Soriano was standing at the bar very close to me when the woman walked in," he said. "She didn't acknowledge anyone but walked up to Soriano, who was drinking a coffee, put her hand on his shoulder and turned him round to face her.

"Then she pulled the bottle she was carrying from under her arm and began to tip it over him. At first I didn't realise what was happening, but then I smelt the petrol. I jumped up and tried to grab her, but when she struck a match I got clear.

"The petrol was in a pool around Soriano, and she threw the match into it. It ignited with a whoosh, and he screamed and staggered about covered in flames. As people rushed outside to escape the flames, she just looked at him, then turned and walked away."

Customers helped Mr Lopez put out the fire with extinguishers and doused Soriano with water until paramedics arrived.

Soriano's attack on the woman's teenage daughter took place in 1998. The girl was going to buy a loaf of bread when Soriano snatched her from the street, threatened her with a knife and raped her. Her mother is said to have suffered mental illness ever since.

Soriano was convicted of the rape and ordered to serve 13 years in jail. The sentence was later reduced to nine years on appeal.

The woman's lawyer, Joaquín Galant, told The Sunday Telegraph last night: "The family has suffered a double tragedy. First the attack on their daughter and now this. Both the father and his daughter would like to express their sadness at the death of Soriano."

Earlier, Mr Galant said that the woman did not deserve to be kept in prison. "For seven years she has been deeply affected by what was done to her daughter," he said. "This man, fresh from prison and asking how her daughter was, might be considered to have provoked her."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/1492839/Mother-sets-fire-to-her-daughters-gloating-rapist.html

Good on her.

[August]

9 year sentence for raping a 13 year old child and if that isn't lenient enough he also gets weekend passes?

Europeans have no right to complain about our criminal justice system...

[Dowly]

Europeans have no right to complain about our criminal justice system...

I actually wish we had similar lenght punishments as you guys. Take our life sentence for example, if you are paroled and do a crime and get sent back in, you only need to serve 3 years and you get out. :nope:

[Schroeder]

Europeans have no right to complain about our criminal justice system...
First of all most Europeans believe our justice systems to be too weak (or at least a lot of people I know do including myself) and second just because our systems are flawed it doesn't mean that yours is perfect. ;)

Or would you say that just because I drive an old car with some flaws in it I have no right to criticize any other car in the world?:cool:


The ammount of wrong decisions made by courts simply shouts for having no death penalty even if we sometimes wish for some people to suffer the same fate as their victims. But there have been to many innocent in the death rows!

O.K. let's stay on topic.

In this case I think that guy got what he deserved.

[August]

Europeans have no right to complain about our criminal justice system...
First of all most Europeans believe our justice systems to be too weak (or at least a lot of people I know do including myself) and second just because our systems are flawed it doesn't mean that yours is perfect. ;)

Or would you say that just because I drive an old car with some flaws in it I have no right to criticize any other car in the world?:cool:


The ammount of wrong decisions made by courts simply shouts for having no death penalty even if we sometimes wish for some people to suffer the same fate as their victims. But there have been to many innocent in the death rows!

O.K. let's stay on topic.

In this case I think that guy got what he deserved.

The death penalty is one of the things that I actually agree with you Europeans about.

[Tarrasque]

A Spanish mother has taken revenge on the man who raped her 13-year-old daughter at knifepoint by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight.

And they're arresting her for that. Surely it's a good thing?

[AVGWarhawk]

A Spanish mother has taken revenge on the man who raped her 13-year-old daughter at knifepoint by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight.
And they're arresting her for that. Surely it's a good thing?

The arrest or the dousing with gas and throwing in a Zippo lighter? Which one was the good thing?

[danurve]

I'm glad Soriano is dead.

I'm also puzzled as to how she was quick enough in some way where he couldn't get out of the way. And no one else was burned.

[Spike88]

I'm glad Soriano is dead.

I'm also puzzled as to how she was quick enough in some way where he couldn't get out of the way. And no one else was burned.
That crossed my mind too. How do you let someone pour gas on you and then proceed to light you on fire, unless you're injured, wasted, or bound. The other thing is that it says it was a crowded bar, which means there would be a lot of people around.

[Tarrasque]

The arrest or the dousing with gas and throwing in a Zippo lighter? Which one was the good thing?

The dousing with petrol of course. Arresting someone for administering a level of punishment that the courts should have done is ludicrous.

[Zachstar]

Vigilantism and Endangerment to the public. Someone is doing some jail time.

The cheering of the action is insane. Imagine a nation where its perfectly alright to take "revenge" That is how terrorism starts.

Did he deserve to die? Yes! And does this person deserve 25 to life? Yes! Its called Justice and its for the courts to decide not someone with a grudge.

[Zachstar]

A Spanish mother has taken revenge on the man who raped her 13-year-old daughter at knifepoint by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight.
And they're arresting her for that. Surely it's a good thing?

You do know that vigilantism is highly unlawful in most of the civilized world right?

[AVGWarhawk]

Vigilantism and Endangerment to the public. Someone is doing some jail time.

The cheering of the action is insane. Imagine a nation where its perfectly alright to take "revenge" That is how terrorism starts.

Did he deserve to die? Yes! And does this person deserve 25 to life? Yes! Its called Justice and its for the courts to decide not someone with a grudge.

Sorry bud, as a father with two daughters, I would hold that grudge for my life and given the opportunity to make it even....you bet I would take it. Mine would be more diabolical then what she did. Hands down:nope:

[Spike88]

A Spanish mother has taken revenge on the man who raped her 13-year-old daughter at knifepoint by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight.
And they're arresting her for that. Surely it's a good thing?
You do know that vigilantism is highly unlawful in most of the civilized world right?

She will probably get out of jail just for whole mental illness thing. I don't know how the Spanish courts work, but in America I doubt a jury would find her guilty.

[Tarrasque]

You do know that vigilantism is highly unlawful in most of the civilized world right?

Yes I do. However as someone who does volunteer work with children around that age, and who has also seen the effects on both the person and their family of a sexual assault on a child (N.B. The assault occurred when that person was 9, they're now 32 and still suffering the effects.) I'd light the match for her.

[baggygreen]

Same thing happened to a family member. burning would be the least of that scumbags worries if i catch up with him. he got let off because at 11, she was deemed too young to be a reliable witness. why? cos her story had 3 minor detail changes in the first 2 days.

Funny that. an 11 yr old kid changing their story a bit after going through that?

more power to the mother i say.

Zach, i know what you're getting at with the vigilantism being a bad thing, and to rely on the justice system, but almost every western justice system now leans in favour of the accused, not the victim. what do you do when they let you down?

[Max2147]

Normally I'm against vigilantism, but I have a hard time criticizing the mother here.

My main problem with vigilantism is the risk of getting the wrong person. But in this case, the guy had already been found guilty.

Ideally, the justice/prison system would have done its job and the guy would have been locked up forever or come out a reformed man, remorseful for what he did. But his comment shows that clearly wasn't the case.

So you have a case where there's no risk of mistaken identity, the failure of the justice system, and a highly emotional issue. Lighting the guy on fire in a crowded bar may have been going overboard a bit, but even as somebody who opposes vigilantism I find myself sympathizing with the mother.

[Zachstar]

Actually the bigger risk is the breakdown of trust in the justice system. Where people don't even bother calling police when the "Law of the land" Is to attack someone in revenge for something they did to you or family or friends.

That could lead to social collapse REALLY fast.

I will be the first to admit the justice system is not perfect. Where pot dealers are treated worse than rapists and prisons filled to the brim with people serving time and gaining street knowledge for simple crimes that could have been better remedied through mandatory training and pysch help.

But it is the best we have. And if we don't like the sentence we have the right to petition congress to change the law to make the sentences tougher. And many civilized nations have similar systems.

You HAVE to admit its better than "Eye for an Eye on teh cold street"

[Schroeder]

Zachstar would you still feel like that if your daughter had been raped, the guy who did that would smile in your face and asking how she is?
What would you do? File a report to congress? Call the police?
Nothing of that would have ANY impact (at least not within the next few months).
At that moment you already feel betrayed by your justice system that allowed this to happen. I'm normaly not for vigilantism but sometimes frustration and injustice are so big that people can't control themselfes anymore.
If that had happened to my daughter and that guy would be bold enough to ask me how she was I would have send him to hospital too.

[Tarrasque]

But it is the best we have. And if we don't like the sentence we have the right to petition congress to change the law to make the sentences tougher. And many civilized nations have similar systems.


Unfortunately in we lack that option in the UK. Someone is convicted, they then appeal to the European Court of Human Rights who then turn around and tell the UK that to imprison someone for that length of time is an infringement of their human rights.

[Bewolf]

What that mother did has more to do with justice then most courts can provide. law hardly ever equals justice. As a person I have the deepest sympathacies with this woman, I'd probably actually cheer as well upon seeing her and how she acted.

But living in a civilized country comes with a price, and that means there are certain principles to obey. Ppl can't just start acting on their own, the result would be utter chaos and ever growing violence for ppl that want to take revenge on ppl that took revenge. Blood feuds came to start this way.

Thus that woman has to go to jail, else more people could be motivated to take the law into their own hands..and what happens next is a decline of society.

Life is not fair.

[baggygreen]

Further to this story, I just found this report: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/759439/govt-seeks-review-as-child-rapist-freed

How the hell can raping a 4 year old girl warrant a 2 year suspended sentence?

I'm all for mandatory sentencing for rape. give em 10 years per count they're found guilty on.

[TarJak]

Mandatory sentence should include having their bollocks smashed between a couple of bricks. Plus the jail time. When they get out they won't be doing it again.:arrgh!:

[A Very Super Market]

You know, I would be fine with castration for rapists.

[August]

You know, I would be fine with castration for rapists.

Not me, nor would I be fine with executing them. But put them in a 8x8 cell for 40-50 years to think about what they did to put them there. Yeah.

[baggygreen]

You know, I would be fine with castration for rapists.
Not me, nor would I be fine with executing them. But put them in a 8x8 cell for 40-50 years to think about what they did to put them there. Yeah.And for sick mongrels like the bloke today, give him a cellmate named bubba, or chopper reid...:yeah:

[August]

You know, I would be fine with castration for rapists.
Not me, nor would I be fine with executing them. But put them in a 8x8 cell for 40-50 years to think about what they did to put them there. Yeah.And for sick mongrels like the bloke today, give him a cellmate named bubba, or chopper reid...:yeah:

My only objection to that is the same as what I don't like about the death penalty. Death and physical injury cannot be undone if it turns out later the person was wrongly convicted, and that happens too often to ignore it.

[Kapt Z]

Normally I'm against vigilantism, but I have a hard time criticizing the mother here.

My main problem with vigilantism is the risk of getting the wrong person. But in this case, the guy had already been found guilty.

Ideally, the justice/prison system would have done its job and the guy would have been locked up forever or come out a reformed man, remorseful for what he did. But his comment shows that clearly wasn't the case.

So you have a case where there's no risk of mistaken identity, the failure of the justice system, and a highly emotional issue. Lighting the guy on fire in a crowded bar may have been going overboard a bit, but even as somebody who opposes vigilantism I find myself sympathizing with the mother.

I agree. I sympathise with her as well. No getting around it the fact that she flat out murdered the guy though. You have to pay the piper for that no matter what the 'justification'.

[August]

You have to pay the piper for that no matter what the 'justification'.

Which by European standards should be about two weeks home confinement with a weekend pass in the middle? :DL

[Kapt Z]

You have to pay the piper for that no matter what the 'justification'.

Which by European standards should be about two weeks home confinement with a weekend pass in the middle? :DL

Seems fair to me....:salute:

He was out for a weekend pass wasn't he?????:doh:

[Schroeder]

You have to pay the piper for that no matter what the 'justification'.
Which by European standards should be about two weeks home confinement with a weekend pass in the middle? :DL

You forgot the free Disneyland familiy ticket.:O:

No, really some of our laws are way too weak and are more protecting the criminals than the victims.:nope: