Authorities in Peru are investigating after an Indigenous spiritual leader was shot to death, a case that local media reports say resulted in the killing of a Canadian citizen in reprisal for the murder.
Olivia Arevalo Lomas, who was 81 and from the Shipibo-Conibo ethnic group, was killed at her home in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest on Thursday.
The killing has sparked local outrage. Arevalo Lomas was a leader in the community, an Indigenous rights activist, and a traditional healer.
There are unconfirmed reports that a Canadian suspected of being involved in the shooting was hanged.
Peru's El Comercio newspaper says the body of a Canadian was found Saturday by police in Ucayali.
The paper says a mob hanged the man and partially buried his body in a rural hamlet, about a 20-minute drive from the community where Olivia Arevalo was shot on April 19.
Canadian not ID'd yet
Police called to the scene cordoned off the area and exhumed the man's body, according to information provided by José Montalvo, director of the media outlet Gaceta Ucayalina.
Consular services are being provided to the family of the Canadian.- Global Affairs Canada
"Canada extends its deepest condolences following the reported assassination of Olivia Arévalo Lomas, an Indigenous elder and human rights defender of the Shipobo-Konibo people in Peru's Ucayali region," Global Affairs Canada said in a statement emailed to CBC News on Sunday.
"We are also aware that a Canadian was killed in a related incident. Consular services are being provided to the family of the Canadian," the statement said, without releasing an identity.
Peruvian police and media are reporting the Canadian lived in the Ucayali regional capital of Pucallpa, freelance journalist Dan Collyns told CBC News. He said both police and Peru's Attorney General are investigating his death.
On its website, the Office of Public Defender of Peru (the Peruvian Ombudsman) condemned the murder of Arevalo Lomas and said police are interviewing her relatives and possible witnesses. It also said the lives of Indigenous people are at risk with the increase in activities such as illegal logging, illegal mining and drug trafficking.