Man slaps woman across the face at airport in shock footage
Claudia Segura, a human rights defence lawyer, was working on her laptop before her flight at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá on Sunday, when she was approached by Héctor Santacruz.
Santacruz could be seen standing over Ms Segura allegedly telling her, 'get up or I'll get you up', before suddenly striking her across the left side of her face with his phone in his hand.
Shocked passengers immediately got up to defend Ms Segura as one man pushed and shoved Santacruz away from the woman.
Others could be heard yelling at Santacruz before his wife Karen de Santacruz stood up and got involved.
She grabbed their belongings as Santacruz was handcuffed and escorted by an airport police officer out of the terminal.
A separate video shows Ms Segura, who suffered soft tissue trauma, laying on her back while she was tended to by an airport worker,
According to her lawyer, Maité Bayona, 'other factors have been diagnosed, for which appointments have been scheduled with specialists'.
Bayona added that their client, who is a contractor for the Bogotá City Hall, may also require psychological therapy, 'because she is very upset as a result of this attack and the violation of her rights that she experienced last Sunday'.
The lawyer confirmed a criminal complaint has been filed.
Ms Segura, who is a government contractor, expressed her frustration at the handling of the incident by airport staff.
She told local publication El Tiempo she was waiting to board her flight and was looking for a place to sit so that she could continue to work on her laptop.
'When I got to the waiting area, everything was completely full, and I only saw one empty chair,' she said.
'I didn't have any bags or clothes on me to indicate it was occupied, so I sat down.'
Ms Segura said Santacruz's wife Karen told her that the seat was occupied but she countered by telling her that it was not occupied.
She had just finished a work-related phone call when Santacruz allegedly threatened her, demanding she 'get up'.
'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 said that the police took her to a local urgent care centre in the town of Engativá for a medical evaluation and that she had to share the same vehicle as her attacker.
'I am affected and very afraid,' she said.
Meanwhile, Santacruz's wife Karen, who owns a design business, has since spoken out about the incident condemning the actions of her husband – before deleting her Instagram account.
'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 apology on Wednesday. '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.'
She went on to say she does not 'condone' or 'approve of it', and 'I won't remain silent'.
'I reject it from the bottom of my heart because I believe in dignity, in boundaries, and in respect.'
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