Mexican authorities arrested two men for strangling three sister nurses who worked in the nation's state-run hospitals. Authorities ruled out coronavirus-fears as the motive to the crime.

Initial investigation showed the suspects planned to rob the women. The men, who were in their 20s, worked as a nurse and a municipal market worker.

According to the investigators, the killings had no connection to the sisters' work at the hospital.


The Crime

On Friday, Mexican police authorities found the bodies of the three sisters who worked in state-run hospitals. Initial investigation showed they were strangled to death. Their murder stirred further alarm in the country as more healthcare workers have reported being targeted and attacked due to COVID-19 fears.

Two of the sisters were employed as nurses at the IMSS, Mexican Social Security Institute. The third was reportedly an administrator at a local hospital.

State police found their bodies in a house in Torreon, a city in the northern Mexico border state of Coahuila. They were allegedly murdered on Thursday.

The National Union of Social Security Employees denounced the crime, saying it was "outrageous."


Under Attack

In recent weeks, medical professionals and health care employees have started changing into civilian clothes before leaving hospitals to avoid getting hit, kicked off public transport, or have bleach poured on them.

According to news reports, a head nurse who worked at Vargas's hospital, a Jalisco doctor, and a nurse in Sinaloa were reportedly assaulted in the streets and doused in bleach.

On April 23, Dr. Alondra Jovanna Torres was doused in bleach while walking her dogs near her home in Guadalajara. Her quiet morning was shattered when someone behind her screamed and splashed her face with the cleaning agent.

Torres said the liquid hit her left eye and slid down her neck. The pain quickly followed. The color of the medical scrubs she'd been wearing began to fade.

On April 3, a woman who was identified as Imelda "N" said she was attacked at the end of her workday in the Newfoundland neighborhood. An unidentified individual followed her as she walked home. He later threw chlorine at Imelda. The liquid hit the nurse's face.

The incident also happened to six other nurses in the state of Jalisco on March 28.

Fabiana Zepeda, the head nurse of Mexico's national health system, said they had recorded dozens of attacks on staff in twelve of the country's states. Many more, however, are being reported through social media.

"We invite you, sincerely, to respect us," she pleaded during the health ministry's daily coronavirus presentation.

In April alone, at least 44 attacks against medical personnel across the country were listed. The violence varied-some nurses experienced being struck in the face, discriminated, refused public transport, and scalding liquid thrown onto their faces and bodies.

Authorities say the victims are likely targeted primarily due to a rumor that medical personnel is spreading the virus throughout Mexico. Some doctors and nurses were receiving threats, accusations, and harassment on their social media accounts.

"These attacks show the lack of education and the ignorance of people," Dr. Patricia Maldonado, a doctor who works at a Guadalajara hospital, said.


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