Yusinay Capetillo Martínez, 41 years old, was murdered on September 19 in her home in the Santos Suárez neighborhood, Diez de Octubre municipality, Havana, becoming the 53rd documented victim of femicide in Cuba this year.
According to a statement from the Gender Observatory Alas Tensas (OGAT), the alleged perpetrator is the victim's ex-son-in-law, who attacked her inside her home taking advantage of one of the frequent power outages that the country experiences.
At the time the OGAT statement was released, the assailant was still at large, several days after the crime and without confirmation of their arrest by the authorities.
"The latest available information still placed him at large, several days after the crime, adding this case to the reports made throughout the year by the victims' families regarding extreme delays in the capture of suspected feminicides," the organization warned.
The case is classified as a family-related femicide. Yusinay leaves behind three adult daughters.
Alas Tensas also warned about the danger that the victim's daughter and granddaughter could face, linked to the alleged aggressor: "We are focusing on the situation of Yusy's daughter and granddaughter in relation to the alleged aggressor, who may be at risk until his detention is confirmed."
The pattern of aggressors remaining at large for days or weeks continues. The 52nd feminicide in Cuba was that of Noemí Pérez López, a 38-year-old woman, who was murdered in Las Tunas on August 8. Her aggressor was not captured until September 5, almost a month after the crime.
The number of confirmed cases so far in 2026 has already exceeded the total recorded for the entire year of 2025, which was 49, and this is before the end of September.
According to the OGAT semiannual report, 49 femicides were documented between January and August, averaging one every five days. As of September 23, it also recorded 27 attempted femicides and two murders of men in the context of gender-based violence.
The year 2026 is shaping up to be the second deadliest since OGAT began documenting cases in 2019. Only 2023 recorded a higher number, with 90 femicides. Between 2019 and September 2026, the total accumulated surpasses 368 documented cases.
The Cuban regime stated in April that "there is no and will be no impunity" regarding gender-based violence and that the country has "solid legislation," yet it has not published its own statistics on the phenomenon. Cuba does not classify femicide as an independent crime in its 2022 Penal Code—only considering it an aggravating factor of homicide—and lacks a comprehensive law on gender-based violence.
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