An angry mob dragged a man from his home and beat him on the street after discovering that he allegedly killed his two young children in Colombia.
Dramatic video shows neighbors pulling Darwin Beltrán, 31, out of his residence in the Bogotá neighborhood of Engativá on Monday evening after they discovered his four-year-old son, Santy, and seven-year-old daughter, Susan, had been stabbed.
Witnesses told the police that Beltran flew into a rage and ultimately attacked the children after confronting his wife for allegedly cheating on him.
The videos show several people taking turns kicking, punching and striking Beltrán before police intervened and hauled him away.
Beltrán was arrested and taken to a local police station, where he confessed to the crime.
Darwin Beltrán was arrested Monday night and confessed to killing his four-year-old son, Santy, and seven-year-old daughter, Susan, inside the family home in Engativá, a neighborhood in the Colombian capital of Bogotá
A police officer is seen intervening after neighbors dragged Darwin Beltrán out of his home and beat him after learning about the attacks
The Bogotá Metropolitan Police said it received emergency calls from neighbors who were concerned after residents stormed inside.
Witnesses said that they heard Beltrán’s wife screaming as she was being beaten by by her husband. They explained that she walked out of a bedroom before Beltrán returned and stabbed Santy and Susan with a knife.
Images leaked on social media showed Beltrán sitting on a chair at the police station. Another showed his face and shirt covered in blood stains.
A neighbor told Blu Radio that Beltrán often expressed concerns over his relationship with his wife and the family’s finances.
‘If he came home without a penny to eat, she (the children’s mother) would get into trouble,’ the neighbor said. ‘He would ask me what he should do, if he should leave or stay. He didn’t seem violent. That’s why it seems strange to me. They were very close.’
Darwin Beltrán’s face and shirt are seen stained with blood. The 31-year-old confessed to the police that he had killed his two children
Beltrán was arrested in 2019 for domestic violence and in 2022 for possession of stolen goods and concealment. He is expected to appear before a judge on Tuesday.
The incident stunned residents and Bogotá Mayor Carlos F. Galán, who called on the judicial system to make an example out of Beltrán.
‘I am deeply saddened by the news of the murder of two children aged 4 and 7 by their father. I offer my sympathy to the family,’ Galán wrote on X.
‘What is happening to us as a society? These cases are heartbreaking and unacceptable. The murderer was caught red-handed and is now being prosecuted,’ he added. ‘I ask the courts to impose the highest possible sentence on this man.’