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A 14-Year-Old Pregnant Girl Was Buried Alive By Her Boyfriend In Argentina

The murder of Chiara Paez has devastated Argentina. Who was Chiara, and why did her death push the country to a tipping point?

This is Chiara Paez, a 14-year-old from Rufino, Santa Fe province, Argentina.

Chiara was close to her family. She regularly shared photos of her life, family, and friends on Instagram and Facebook.

She was also popular at her school, where she was part of the field hockey team.

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At the start of May, Chiara went missing in her home city.

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Many people took part in the search for Chiara, including her boyfriend, Manuel Mansilla. They had been dating for a couple of months, and both attended the same school.

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Three days later, the schoolgirl's body was found beaten under a patio in Mansilla's backyard. She was eight weeks pregnant, and she had been buried alive.

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Mansilla confessed to her murder, and as there were traces of a drug used in abortions found in her body, he was also charged with forced abortion.

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Reports suggest Chiara was murdered after an argument over her pregnancy.

But there are doubts over whether Manuel worked alone. Later, Manuel's 34-year-old mother and her 43-year-old partner were arrested and are under investigation for Chiara's murder.

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"She is a big girl, physically, a height of 1.70m (5'6) and weighing 70kg (150 lbs.)," Chiara's father told reporters. "It's impossible that he [Manuel] had done this alone."

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Her death devastated her family and friends and outraged not only her community, but her entire country.

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Argentinians were shocked by the murders of Chiara and a number of other women in recent months. The frequency of shocking cases of "femicide" – the murder of women for their gender – had reached a tipping point.

In a movement led by social media and the hashtag #NiUnaMenos ("Not One Less"), women, men and children in cities across Argentina demanded an end to gender violence.

This is what the square outside Congress in Buenos Aires – filled with 200,000 protesters demanding tougher laws on violence against women – looked like on Wednesday night.

Marches also took place in Chile and Uruguay this week, the BBC reported.

Charities say a woman is murdered every 31 hours in Argentina, and that they are rarely taken seriously when they report abusive partners to the police.

Like all the other families who have lost loved ones to this crime, Chiara's family are seeking justice.

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Her father, Fabio, has changed his profile photo to one of his daughter. Yesterday, he left a status update that read: "At night when I go to bed, I cry alone ... I wish someone could explain."

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