The Spanish couple who met in Peru the girl who joined the apocalyptic sect | World

The father of his daughter would be the guru of an apocalyptic sect. This same man would have been responsible for taking Patricia to live in the middle of the jungle.

She was responsible for taking care of the children of four other women and lived in a small hut, in precarious conditions, in San Martín de Pangoa, a village 600 km from Lima.

Patrícia Aguilar fled her home in Spain in January 2017, shortly after turning 18 years old. He left behind the municipality of Elche, Alicante, where he lived with his parents, and cut off all contact with his family.

She embarked for Peru and began living with Felix Steven Manrique, a 35-year-old Peruvian who met online at the age of 16. She had received a message from Manrique after searching the Internet to try to unravel the meaning of a "strange dream" that she had had.

Until his arrest, the Peruvian, an electrician by training, had several profiles and pages on the Internet, where he published forecasts that the end of the world was near. He has been presented as an elect, savior, envoy of God in the face of the apocalypse.

The Peruvian called himself "the prince" and was the leader of a sect. On YouTube, for example, launched a chain like the name: "Gnosis Buddhism Prophecies Prince Prince Venerable Prince Gurdjieff" where he explained his apocalyptic doctrines.

He claimed that his mission was to repopulate the planet and to have children with as many women as possible. Patricia became one of them.

'Persuasion Specialist & # 39;

"Steven Manrique devoted himself, through social networks, to the recruitment of very young women in a subtle work that took years," Maria Teresa Rojas, lawyer of the badociation SOS Disappeared and legal representative of the family Patrícia.

"Patricia was in a situation of psychological vulnerability.According to the lawyer, Manrique is" a specialist in persuasion techniques And managed to manipulate the young woman.

"He first introduced himself as a friend, so as a kind of fiancé." When he saw that it was the right time he began to tell him that the world was going very badly, that there would be a lot of wars, that everything was written and that he was a kind of God who would act as judge in the apocalypse "

This process was followed for two years until, a year and a half ago, the young woman decided to leave the family to follow this" guru ""

The Patrícia's parents immediately began a determined and determined search to find the young woman, Alberto, the father, arrived to travel in Peru and appear in television programs asking for support to local authorities. with the help of donors, were able to collaborate financially with the police operation that allowed last week that Patricia was finally found in the jungle Manrique was arrested.

& # 39; s He is a very dangerous man & # 39;

The agents located the guru in Alto Celedín, a town in the Peruvian district of San Martin de Pangoa, where he lived with two women – one of them is the official wife .

Rojas explains that the Peruvian police rented a house adjoining that of Manrique. From there, they started the operation.

"Thanks to this, they learned that Patricia was alone with the children somewhere in the jungle.After getting confessions from one of the women who lived with Manrique, they were able to locate her," said l & # 39; lawyer.

Manrique was arrested on Wednesday (4) last week. This Thursday (12), the Peruvian court must decide to order preventive custody or release the alleged guru.

"We are waiting for him to be kept in prison, he is a very dangerous man, we are sure that besides Patricia, he co-opted other minors," Rojas explains.

The lawyer believes that it is very likely that there is evidence of this in the material seized by the police during the operation.

"Steven Manrique tried to swallow two USB keys at the time of arrest, but he could not," he says.

Patricia's father is in Peru. But he still could not see his daughter or granddaughter, born on May 28 in unsanitary conditions, in the same hut as Patricia.

The young Spaniard and the women who were with the cult's guru at the time of their arrest were taken to Lima, where they are with their children. They underwent medical and psychological examinations to determine their physical and mental health.

"We must save this baby"

But Patricia's family knows that it will not be easy to rebuild the relationship with the girl. Parents believe that the effects of Manrique's brainwashing persist.

"It would not surprise us if, at the beginning, Patrícia was in defense of Steven Manrique, it is very possible that, for her, the bad guys are us and that she considers normal all that lived, after that all this man has appropriated his will, "says Rojas.

"When they stopped (Manrique), one of the women who accompanied her did not hesitate to take off her own shoes so as not to have to walk barefoot.

The big problem is that Patricia is of legal age and no one can force her to undergo psychological treatment to overcome this trauma.