State authorities in Hidalgo have arrested six municipal police officers and a jail director in the murder of a medical doctor.

Dr. Beatriz Hernández, 29, was arrested after a traffic accident Wednesday in Progreso de Obregón and was allegedly intoxicated at the time.

According to a press release issued by local authorities, Hernández was sent to a retention area before police took a break to eat. When they returned, they found that Hernández was dead.

The municipal government said on social media that before her death Hernández was visited by a man who said he was her father. She was later found “suspended by an object around her throat,” they said. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where her death was confirmed.

But according to a report by the news service ADN40, her father determined that Hernández had been beaten and asked police officers that she be released. He left his daughter to find out what the charges were against her but when he returned jail personnel were attempting to resuscitate the woman.

The state Attorney General’s Office is investigating the death as a possible femicide.

Friends and family of the deceased gathered Thursday to protest and demand more information about the death.

The Progreso de Obregón government maintains that Hernández was inebriated and took her own life after a fight with her father.

The mayor said in a press release that the local police officers’ arrests were illegal, given that they had voluntarily given witness statements. The mayor also said 50 state police officers turned up at municipal police headquarters and seized officers’ weapons.

With reports from Criterio (sp), ADN40 (sp) and El Financiero (sp)