Vigilantes of the Andes

Published on website Contributoria on 1st of May 2015

A young man and woman are interrogated by a group of people. After some questions about their affair, they have to promise that none of this will ever happen again. The wife of the young man steps forward from the group and he has to publicly apologise to her. After that, he and his mistress bend over and are whipped on their backs by an old woman. This public shaming is videotaped and shown via YouTube.

The video shows a tribunal in Cajamarca, in the northern Andean region of Peru, and was made by the local vigilantes, who call themselves the rondas campesinas (farmer patrols). The rondas protect the cities and villages from criminals and use corporal punishment, whose roots are in the traditional indigenous society.

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