Colombian authorities raised the reward from $50,000 to $75,000 Friday for information leading to the release of the kidnapped daughter of a mayor, in the hopes that it will help bring home the 10-year-old girl.
The young girl, Nhora Valentina Muñoz, was kidnapped last week by an unnamed armed group while on her way to school in the department of Arauca in Colombia’s north east. The ten-year-old is the daughter of the mayor of the Araucan village of Fortul.
The original reward of $50,000 was offered by Colombia’s defense ministry and now the Government of Arauca, the department where the young girl lives, has offered a further $25,000.
The case of Nhora’s kidnapping sparked widespread outrage in the country due to the age of the victim.
At her primary school, students and teachers alike united in protest while Colombia’s minister for the interior publicly denounced the kidnapping as “a crime against humanity.” The International Committee of the Red Cross is assisting in mediation and the Catholic Church have spoken out publicly, begging for Nhora’s return.