Juan Zamorano, a 14-year-old Otomí student, was set on fire by his classmates at the beginning of June for being indigenous. According to witnesses, Juan Pablo, was sprayed with alcohol and burned inside the classroom by two of his classmates, which is why he was in the Children's and Women's Hospital, where he got 4 surgical cleanings and grafting a.

Eugenia Eduardo Marcelino, mother of the victim, reported that it was a teacher who had given alcohol to the two minor aggressors, who sprayed it on a chair in the classroom and then sat her son down. "When he felt that he got wet, he stood up, but one of the children set him on fire with a lighter and it would not go out until he managed to take off his pants," said the mother. The teacher was the one who took Juan to a clinic, where they applied a balm on his severely burned skin and told the teacher he needed to be taken to the hospital. It was also reported that the teacher also applied onion on his burns trying to cure them, all of this happened whilst the parents were unaware of the situation. It was until his dad, who works as a construction worker and his mom Eugenia, who sells candy on the street for extra income, arrived home and saw Juan. It must be noted that neither did the school nor the teacher told the parents about the situation at this point.

Juan Zamorano, father of Juan Pablo, reveals that since February his son had already refused to attend school and asked to be changed to another classroom, however, school principal denied the change on the grounds that there were no elements to justify it and that there was no space in other classrooms. In addition to the fact that it is an issue that has been coming up for a long time and that it is a consequence of the discrimination and bullying that Juan received from his classmates and teacher, for being Otomí and not speaking Spanish well, the father of the child denounces. “Since those times they were already bullying him and we realized that even the teacher herself was bullying him, just because we are of the Otomi race, she thinks that we are not of her class, we are not of her race, she thinks that she is being human and we belong to other people”, he denounces. According to don Juan, his son is quiet and never wanted to point out the classmates who harassed him, but he does not rule out that the school was aware of who his aggressors were, however, the school authorities did not want to change it, which led to having been attacked. The incident caused second and third degree burns. The minor is admitted to the Children's and Women's Hospital in Querétaro, Mexico.

Every single penny is going to be given directly to the family. We’re working with family’s legal team (ernestocarreno.com.mx) to be able to give Juan and his family the help they need.

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My name is Samuel Garcia Alcántara, I’m 24 years old and I’m a Physiotherapy student at Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro. I saw many international outlets reporting on the news while scrolling on instagram and saw people looking to help out.

This breaks my heart personally, I have always taken pride of my city and its culture, which I’ve seen fade slowly and it’s a huge shame. Otomi was spoken in my family until it was gradually replaced with Spanish until it reached my generation. I hope that with the kind words you guys are sending to Juan, we can make him know that speaking a native language is a gift and not something uncivilized or weird, definitely not something to be ashamed of.

Thank you all for your support.

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If you want to leave a message of support to Juan, you can send me a message or video with your name and location to let him know he’s not alone in this.

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Samuel Garcia Alcantara [email redacted].mx

Instagram: @samuelovoxo

Facebook: facebook.com/samuelgarcia65 Colonia Vista Alegre Segunda Sección, 76074, Queretaro, Qro, Mexico