Police in northern Belize are investigating a reported kidnapping and robbery involving a 59-year-old woman from San Lazaro Village. Esmeralda Castaneda, a domestic worker of San Lazaro Village told investigators that on Monday, April 27, at around 8:00 a.m., two acquaintances from the village - a man and woman visited her home to drink. She doesn't drink and at approximately 3:00 p.m., when they prepared to leave and asked if she wanted to accompany them, she declined.
She alleges that one of them men then forcibly dragged her into a vehicle against her will and took her to a bar in Yo Creek Village, where the pair continued drinking - but she refused.
They then took her back home where she was physically assaulted with a two-by-four, knocking her unconscious. They then robbed her of a cell phone and $720 in cash.
She told CTV-3 in Spanish what happened:
Emelda Castaneda, Attacked
"(Translated to English) And so she came out on the side where the field was and where the car could block what she was doing to me and when I asked her why is she doing this why is she hitting me she said right now you will see. And she came out and opened my door and with the stick in a hand she hauled me from my hair into the field and she started to hit me, with both hands she hit. And the husband he didn't do anything he didn't try to take her off me. He just looked out the window with both hands on the steering wheel he was watching me he was watching how they beat me"
Police are investigating it as a case of kidnapping and robbery.