An edifying discovery. Police discovered a pre-Hispanic mummy curled up in the cooler bag of former home delivery man Julio Cesar Bermejo during a check on Saturday, February 25, in a park in Puno. The 26-year-old man has been remanded in custody, authorities said. He claims that it had been kept in his family home for over 30 years.
The Ministry of Culture indicated that “the pre-Hispanic cultural property”, estimated between “600 and 800 years old”, was identified as that of “a mummified adult male individual, presumably originating from the eastern part of Puno”, region of the Peruvian Andes, about 1,300 km southeast of Lima.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, Julio Cesar Bermejo explains to a local journalist that the mummy, “affectionately” named “Juanita”, had been kept for “almost 30 years” in his family home. According to him, she had been picked up by her father from a policeman who owed her money.
“At home, she’s in my room, she sleeps with me. I take care of her, I keep her, she is like my spiritual girlfriend,” the young man added. “If I misbehave, she punishes me,” the young man said, describing the mummy as having “energy.”
However, according to the Ministry of Culture “it’s not Juanita, it’s Juan”, explaining that after a quick analysis of the skull, it would be the body of a man of at least 45 years old. Julio Cesar Bermejo denied selling the mummy, claiming to carry it in his insulated backpack to show his “friends” before donating it to a local museum.
The Ministry of Culture “immediately ordered the seizure” of the mummified remains “in order to protect and preserve heritage.”
Peru has an important pre-Hispanic heritage. The star tourist destination is the citadel of Machu Picchu, built in the 15th century by the Inca emperor Pachacutec near Cusco, the former Inca imperial capital.
