Police in the Bogota suburb of Suba intervened to prevent two men suspected of rape from being lynched by members of the local community, reported Colombian media.
According to the town’s police commander, Colonel Ruben Dario Castillo, the two men had been arrested for the rape of a minor but were released following a lack of testimony by the supposed victim and her family.
“It all came from a rumor that resulted in the commotion and left fourteen members of the community arrested,” said the police commander.
Reports state that the alleged victim studied in the Bogota neighborhood of Aures, and that rumors of the rape started when a group of her classmates publicly claimed that she had been assaulted by the men.
The two suspects will be kept under the supervision of the city’s police.