Mother set daughter’s rapist on fire years after chance encounter

A Spanish mother who set fire to the man who raped her teenage daughter has become the focus of one of the country’s most troubling criminal cases.

María del Carmen García’s daughter, Verónica, was 13 when she was sexually assaulted at knifepoint by their neighbour, Antonio Cosme, in 1998, reports Mirror US.

The attack took place near the family’s home outside Alicante. Cosme later received a nine-year prison sentence for the crime.

In June 2005, Cosme was released temporarily under Spain’s prison system, which allows inmates to leave custody during the day to visit family.

While out, he encountered García at a bus stop close to her home. According to reports, he taunted her, asking, ‘How’s your daughter’ before going to a nearby tavern the family regularly visited.

Overcome by fear and anger, García went to a petrol station and bought a container of fuel. She then travelled to the tavern, poured petrol over Cosme and set him alight. He suffered burns over 90 per cent of his body and died in hospital several days later.

Police later found García wandering near the harbour that night. She admitted her actions but told investigators she had not intended to kill Cosme.

She said she wanted to terrify or seriously injure him, forcing him to understand the suffering he had caused her daughter.

A court initially sentenced García to nine and a half years in prison for the killing. Judges later reduced the term to five and a half years on appeal.