Mexico's top universities warn of rise in crime against youth

MEXICO CITY, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's top two universities on Wednesday warned of rising crime against the nation's youth, in the wake of the grisly murders of three film students.

In a joint statement, Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM) and the University of Guadalajara (UdeG), the country's top two institutions of higher education, cited the recent killings as a sign of a growing wave of violence targeting youth.

The three students, enrolled at Guadalajara's University of Audiovisual Media, were abducted in March in the town of Tonala, Jalisco, not far from the state capital Guadalajara, but prosecutors only this week revealed the details of their gruesome deaths and disposal of the bodies, which were dissolved in acid.

"The deaths of Javier Salomon Aceves, Jesus Daniel Diaz and Marco Francisco Avalos are added to a cruel and growing reality that threatens Mexican youth," the universities said.

According to official figures, 35.6 percent of the 34,268 people reported as missing or disappeared nationwide are under 29 years of age, the statement said.

UNAM and UdeG called for immediate measures to stop the violence, adding "it's not possible to continue like this."

Jalisco state prosecutors on Monday announced their findings, saying members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel mistook the three students for members of a rival gang.

The three were seized on March 19 as they were returning by car from a weekend filming school project at a cabin that was loaned to them.

They were beaten to death and dissolved in acid to eliminate the evidence, prosecutors said, adding the students were unaware the cabin belongs to a cartel rival currently serving time in prison.

Authorities have arrested two suspects in connection with the killings, which recalled the similarly brutal abduction and massacre of 43 students from a teachers college in the southern state of Guerrero in 2014.

The latest crime has sparked protests in Mexico City and Guadalajara, where a student march is planned for Thursday. Enditem