The Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT) verified a femicide that occurred exactly one year ago: that of Merlin Yalili Mera Piña, a young mother of 20 years who was killed by her ex-partner on August 6, 2025, in public view in the city of Bayamo, Granma, in front of her four-year-old son.
The case remained undocumented during this time until communicators and influencers began to amplify it on social media, as the trial against the aggressor has just concluded and the family feels that the sentence is insufficient.
"We share in the pain of their family and support their calls for justice in light of the allegations of possible violations of due process during the trial," said the Observatory on Facebook.
She also expressed gratitude to everyone who amplifies the families' pleas and helps ensure that these events do not go unheard. "Such dissemination can be crucial for getting the information to new sources, allowing it to be documented and verified," she added.
How the crime occurred
A post by crime reporter Niover Licea, known on Facebook for his profile Nio reporting a crime, reveals the name of the assailant, identified as Danian Pardo Ríos, also from Bayamo. Danian has been judged and sentenced to 28 years of deprivation of liberty.
"According to the testimony of family members and people close to the case, Merlín had ended a relationship of over three years with Pardo Ríos and subsequently became a victim of harassment and threats. The family asserts that the young woman went to the police and filed several reports seeking protection and a restraining order," Nio detailed.
Witnesses report that the young woman was violently attacked in Bayamo and received more than 20 stab wounds.
According to the family, Merlin's son, who was only four years old at the time, witnessed the crime. The child is now in the care of his grandmother and other relatives, who are taking on his upbringing with great difficulties while enduring the pain of their loss.
The number of femicides is rising
With the confirmation of this case, the OGAT registry for 2025 now stands at 49 verified femicides in Cuba, in addition to two murders of men in a feminicide context, 17 attempts of femicide, and three cases that still require access to the police investigation.
However, the independent organization warns that these figures are an underreporting of reality: many deaths go undocumented, and the case of Merlin Yalili himself illustrates how many crimes remain buried in institutional silence.
The profile of the victims in 2025 reveals a brutal pattern: 46.9% were murdered by their former partners; 89.7% of the crimes occurred within the home; and 32 out of 49 victims had minor children, leaving 54 boys and girls without maternal protection.
The situation in 2026 is even more alarming: up until August 2, OGAT reported 46 femicides so far this year, an increase of approximately 112% compared to the same period in 2025. Since 2019, the observatory has documented 359 femicides on the Island.
The province of Granma has a recent history of femicides that the regime fails to stop. So far in 2026, Bayamo has once again become the scene of similar crimes, including that of a seven-month pregnant woman who was murdered in late July.
Cuba lacks a comprehensive law against gender violence, femicide is not classified as an autonomous crime in the Criminal Code that has been in effect since December 2022, and the country does not have specialized shelters for women at risk.
"These preventable deaths clearly highlight the urgency of shelters in Cuba for the protection of women, their children, families, and the community itself. In the face of a femicidal threat, specialized structures for protection are necessary," warns Alas Tensas.
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