The lifeless body of City Housing Institute chief Carlos Pedrini was found dead at his home in Buenos Aires on Tuesday afternoon, a day after it emerged he had been accused of sexual abuse.
Pedrini, 48, was the head of the IVC (Instituto de la Vivienda de la Ciudad) body that forms part of the Buenos Aires City government.
The body of the City Hall official was found at his home in the Parque Chacabuco neighbourhood. Pedrini's death was confirmed by police and SAME medical emergency service personnel following a 911 call.
City Hall released a statement confirming his death.
"The government of the City of Buenos Aires regrets to inform that Carlos María Pedrini, president of the Instituto de la Vivienda de la Ciudad, was found lifeless today," reported City Hall in a communiqué.
The verification of the causes of "a dubious death" was noted by the Fiscalía Criminal y Correccional N°32 criminal prosecutor’s office.
The dead man presented signs of having hanged himself with the initial hypothesis of the investigation pointing to suicide.
A handwritten note was found at his scene, informing whoever found it that he was dead in the bathtub.
An autopsy on Wednesday confirmed the cause of death as "mechanical asphyxia due to compression of the neck."
Pedrini was suffering from thyroid cancer and underwent surgery with successful results, but his health had recently declined, local media reported.
The City Hall official had been denounced for sexual abuse just a day prior to his death.
The allegations concern two women within a gender violence case being tried by the Juzgado Criminal Seccional y Correccional N°3, secretaría 110 courtroom.
Local media said his niece is one of the complainants and her friend is the other.
According to reporting by La Nación, the alleged abuse occurred on January 19 at a party in San Telmo.
In its statement, City Hall detailed Pedrini's political career.
"Carlos María Pedrini was an Argentine politician belonging to the party Propuesta Republicana (PRO) who entered public service in 2004, working in the Social Development Secretariat under María Eugenia Vidal and Carolina Stanley,” it added.
The statement described his move to the Social Development Ministry at national level in 2015 when he was appointed first Secretario de Gestión y Articulación Institucional and then Secretario de Articulación de Política Social as from 2018.
"In 2020 he was appointed City representative to Acumar (Autoridad de Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo) and in 2022 he was made head of the Secretaría de Bienestar Integral of the City of Buenos Aires, where he distinguished himself with his capacity for handling the low-income neighbourhoods of this city and linking up with social movements.
"As from September, 2023 he was the president of the Instituto de Vivienda de la CABA (IVC)," concluded the statement.
– TIMES/NA
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