Man Ordered to Buy Beer for Dad of Girl He Allegedly Raped

A 55-year-old former pastor in Mexico was accused of sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl. His punishment? He had to buy her father two crates of beer. The Guardian reports the man was only arrested and charged with aggravated rape on Friday after media coverage of the incident drew outrage. The alleged sexual assault took place in the "remote indigenous community" of Santiago Quetzalapa, which is ruled by a system known as "traditions and customs." The system allows indigenous people to maintain traditions, but it also allows their leaders to make decisions based on belief instead of the law. The head of a human rights organization in Mexico says that under traditions and customs many sexual violence cases "are settled this way: with a bottle of liquor." (More sexual assault stories.)