Cardi B and popular Dominican urban music host Santiago Matías (Alofoke) are offering a reward totaling $15,000 for information leading to the suspects who threw acid on a 19-year-old Dominican woman as she rode in a public car near Santo Domingo.
According to El Diario, the oldest and largest Spanish language newspaper in the United States, on Sunday, two unknown assailants on a motorcycle viciously attacked Yocairi Amarante Rodríguez with a corrosive substance known as “ácido del diablo” or “Devil’s Acid.”
Cardi B, who is also of Dominican descent, spoke out against the assault in an Instagram video.
“Gente de la Republica Dominicana. Yo voy a ofrecer diez mil dollares a quien encuentren las persona que han hecho ese daño tan grande a esa niña," the Tuesday caption read.
Translated, the caption reads:
“Dear people of the Dominican Republic, I am going to tell my father to contact the Attorney General’s Office or anyone in the Dominican Republic, and I am going to offer $10,000, not pesos, $10,000, to whoever he finds is responsible for throwing that Devil’s Acid on that girl."
The "I Like It" rapper suggested jealousy led to the attack.
“The persons responsible for this must be brought to justice. Envy makes people do ugly things, and I’m going to offer ten thousand dollars, so grab it,” she continued.
Matías, also via Instagram, offered a reward of 300 thousand Dominican pesos, the equivalent to $5,000 U.S. dollars, to whoever had information that leads to the individuals responsible for the horrific offense. He also contributed 100 thousand pesos — roughly $1,700 U.S. dollars — to Rodríguez’s medical expenses.
In 2014, the Dominican Congress introduced legislation that would make anyone who used “Devil’s Acid” as a weapon subject to criminal charges, according to Diario Libre. The crime would be punishable with a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison. The law has yet to pass in Congress. Sulfuric and hydrochloric acids constitute the harmful compound and are used as a weapon in the Dominican Republic.
A report published by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board in 2012 detailed the increasing usage of the chemical in the island, specifically against women. From 1992 to 2010, there were almost 4,000 reported Devil’s Acid attacks. The burn unit at Luis Eduardo Aybar Hospital in Santo Domingo provided the data.
Rodríguez’s injuries are extensive.
Dr. Eddy Bruno, director of the burn unit at Ney Arias Lora hospital in the Northern Santo Domingo, explained the young mother’s condition to El Diario. The following quote is translated from Spanish:
“She’s a patient in critical condition, with chemical burns over 40% of her body. The burns are deep and unfortunately cover a significant part the upper portion of the head-area (which includes the neck, face and upper chest), which is why it affected her face,” he detailed. “We are doing everything possible that we can do for her. But I repeat– that she is a patient in very critical condition.”
Video footage of the incident was released by the family to bring awareness of the attack’s brutality and find the perpetrators of this appalling crime.
“I want justice for my daughter; this cannot go unpunished. My daughter is in the intensive care room,” Rodríguez’s mother said in an interview.
The National Police in Santo Domingo has vowed to capture the assailants and bring them to justice.
