MEXICO is facing a horrifying femicide epidemic - with 10 women and girls brutally murdered every day.

       Actress Tania Mendoza, 42, is among the latest fatalities after she was gunned down while picking up her 11-year-old son from football training.

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       Tania Mendoza, 42, was shot dead while waiting to pick up her son from football training Credit: Instagram 5

       Ingrid Escamilla, 25, was skinned and mutilated by her husband Credit: Central European News 5

       Massive street protests have been held in recent years over the number of murders Credit: Alamy

       The mum, who rose to fame following her lead role in the 2005 film La Mera Reyna del Sur, is one of least 10 women killed in the country every day.

       Last year, Mexico recorded the murders of 3,723 women across its 32 states.

       Amnesty International said a third of the victims - 940 - were cases of femicide and slammed the brutality as a "shocking epidemic".

       There has also been a worrying rise in the number of women vanishing from the streets of Mexico, which suggests the number of killings is even higher.

       A scathing report from the human rights group has revealed the terrifying scale of the plague of violence - and the disturbing lack of interest from cops to prevent or solve the executions.

       Femicide - the gender-based killing of women - has been rife in Mexico for decades - most notoriously in a wave of murders when 400 women were killed in the city of Ciudad Juárez in the 1990s.

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       Massive street protests from Mexico's growing feminist movement have been held in recent years, but authorities appear unwilling to step in to stop the daily killings.

       Last year, the murders of a seven-year-old girl and a 25-year-old woman sparked outrage as people called for stricter laws to protect females.

       Fatima Cecelia Aldrighett was taken from school and discovered dead days later.

       Her body was found inside a plastic bag and left in a rural area, according to prosecutors, who said the child was sexually abused and beaten before she died.

       The family of seven-year-old Fatima said the Mexican government didn’t do enough to protect the child.

       Fatima's abduction came days after Ingrid Escamilla was skinned and mutilated by her husband, who police say confessed to killing her.

       The husband claimed Ingrid attacked him with a knife, so he killed her and flushed some of her body parts down the sewer.

       Photos of Ingrid’s body were leaked by cops to the local media, which were then published on their front pages.

       It sparked an explosion of anger from protesters, who said it “enraged” them how Ingrid was killed — and “how the media put her body on display".

       Furious protesters scrawled "femicide state" on buildings in blood-red paint.

       A recent United Nations report on gender violence found Mexico was the second most dangerous country in the world for women.

       GRUESOME KILLINGS

       And attacks on women have not only grown, they have also become more gruesome - like the skinning of Ingrid.

       A young musician was burned with acid in the state of Oaxaca in September last year.

       The two accused men claimed they were hired by a former politician and businessman who allegedly had an affair with the woman.

       In October, a schoolgirl was allegedly raped and strangled by three teen friends before her body was dumped in a trash heap.

       With drug cartel violence rife across much of Mexico, it's commonplace for femicides to go uninvestigated, according to activists.

       Amnesty International's report, Justice on Trial, said: "Mexico is continuing to fail to fulfil its duty to investigate and, therefore, its duty to guarantee the rights to life and personal integrity of the victims as well as to prevent violence against women.

       “Feminicidal violence and the failings in investigation and prevention in northern Mexico are not anecdotal, but rather form part of a broader reality in the country."

       Many families have been forced to do their own detective work after the killings of their loved ones were ignored by investigators.

       Authorities often mishandle evidence or contaminate crimes scenes, and refuse to pursue leads such as geolocation information from victims’ mobile phones.

       Julia's Sosa's children believe she was killed by her partner.

       Her two daughters found her body buried on the suspect’s property – but they had to wait hours for police to arrive and process the crime scene.

       One of her daughters even claimed "the police officer was falling asleep" while she was making a statement about her mother's death.

       The case was later closed after Sosa's partner hanged himself - even though family members insisted there were more leads to pursue.

       In the country's latest episode of violence, it's not yet clear who was behind Tania Mendoza's murder - or any possible motive.

       Cops have carried out a search for the suspects, but no one has been arrested.

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       Fatima Cecelia Aldrighett was taken from school and discovered dead days later Credit: Central European News 5

       Women hold banners with pictures of femicide victims - including Ingrid Escamilla Credit: AP

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