‘Get up or I'll get you up': Man slaps woman in violent airport outburst, Colombia

West Australian

01-08-2025

Travellers at a Colombian airport were left stunned after a man allegedly struck a woman across the face with his phone in a shocking outburst over a vacant seat.
The incident, which unfolded at Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport on Sunday, was captured on video and has since prompted a criminal complaint.
The victim, human rights lawyer Claudia Segura, was working on her laptop in the terminal when she was approached by Héctor Santacruz, who reportedly demanded she vacate her chair so he could sit next to his wife.
'Get up or I'll get you up,' Mr Santacruz allegedly told Ms Segura, before suddenly lashing out and hitting her in the face with his phone, according to footage shared online.
Panicked travellers rushed to her defence as one man physically separated Mr Santacruz from the woman. Others could be heard shouting at the aggressor, while his wife, Karen de Santacruz, began gathering their belongings.
Moments later, Mr Santacruz was placed in handcuffs and escorted from the terminal by airport police.
A second video shows Ms Segura lying on her back, receiving medical assistance for what her lawyer described as soft tissue trauma.
'Other factors have been diagnosed, for which appointments have been scheduled with specialists,' her lawyer Maité Bayona said.
She added Ms Segura may also need psychological support 'because she is very upset as a result of this attack and the violation of her rights that she experienced last Sunday.'
A formal criminal complaint has now been lodged.
Ms Segura, who works for Bogotá City Hall, later expressed anger over how airport staff handled the ordeal.
'When I got to the waiting area, everything was completely full, and I only saw one empty chair,'
News.com.au
reported.
'I didn't have any bags or clothes on me to indicate it was occupied, so I sat down.'
She said a woman then approached her to say the seat was taken — a claim Ms Segura disputed. After finishing a work call, she said Mr Santacruz walked over and began threatening her.
'He hits me on the hand, knocks off my phone, and hits me hard in the face and head,' she recalled.
'The magnitude of the impact knocked my earring off.'
Ms Segura was taken for medical evaluation at a nearby urgent care centre in Engativá — in the same vehicle as the man accused of attacking her.
'I am affected and very afraid,' she said.
In the days since the incident, Mr Santacruz's wife Karen, has publicly condemned her husband's actions.
'The person shown physically assaulting a woman is my husband. And you don't know how much it hurts me to say this out loud,' she said in a video posted to social media.
'And it really hurts me as a woman, as a mother, as the founder of Khala, because all of this goes against what we want, what we've been working on for so many years.'
'I know that when things like this happen, it's easy to point fingers, judge, and dismiss. But I also know that many of us have made mistakes at some point in our lives.
'But as the old saying goes, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. This doesn't mean it's right, because it isn't.'
'I reject it from the bottom of my heart because I believe in dignity, in boundaries, and in respect,' she said.
Shortly after sharing the statement, she deactivated her Instagram account.