Teacher who abused his students for 10 years escaped justice

It took 10 years for minors who were victims of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of their dance teacher, Helman Berrío Ramírez, to report the events that took place between 2003 and 2006. Although nine testimonies from women were collected, it is estimated that there were many more who did not dare to point out.

The miners said the teacher, along with his wife, had a dance foundation in southern Bogotá where they offered public school students group lesson services and promised performances at major festivals.

In the investigation carried out by El Tiempo, the victims explained that on the first floor of the place there was a large room where they rehearsed and that there were figures of women painted on all the walls. According to what they say, the footage was captured with the blood of the girls who were abused.

In addition, the man forced them to go through a carpet which slashed their feet, because he told them that they had to activate certain parts of the body in order to be able to dance well. Then he forced them to practice tantras which he himself invented and since the girls were very young, they did not understand the level of abuse they were undergoing. According to the victims’ lawyer, Alexánder Rogelis, who spoke to El Tiempo, the victims lived with the trauma for years until, in adulthood, they had the courage to report what was happening. was happening.

“He did a lot of bad things to us, he recorded us, and then he saved this material to hard drives. He also showed us disgusting videos of women and animal abuse, and had ice cream, flowers and other things brought to us. He said they had to have contact with all living things, ”one of Helman Berrío Ramírez’s victims told El Tiempo.

One of the girls who suffered abuse from the man confessed that while he was forcing them to perform rites he had invented and while he touched them inappropriately, the woman pulled out a camera to record every moment, after he lied to them assuring them that they were normal rituals to dance well and let go of the body, he raped them. “I remember a lot of stomach aches, that there were days when I felt really bad, and this man told me that it was normal, that I had to kick out everything that was in there. interior. Now I know it was all the product of his actions on my body ”, one of the victims confessed to El Tiempo.

“Once he made us travel to the coast and forced us all to sleep in his room, he and his wife shamelessly touched us and showed us how they had sex with others. On other occasions, they took me to the dance hall of another school, where the teacher’s wife and another stranger mistreated me, ”confessed another victim.

But the abuse wasn’t just sexual, the women reported that he took them to district dance groups for hours on end, and despite the fatigue, blisters on their feet, and the fact that they were dehydrated, he did not feed them, did not offer them any decent treatment and paid them 20 thousand pesos.

Capture order:

After a thorough investigation by the authorities and after having collected the testimonies of all the victims, the prosecution issued an arrest warrant, but Helman Berrío Ramírez is missing. Nothing is known about him or his wife, the young women, family members and authorities are asking the community that if they saw him anywhere they inform the police to do justice in this case.

Read on: