Newly-Elected Mexican Mayor Gisela Mota Slain A Day After Taking Office, Three Suspects Held By Police Authorities

Three people, including a minor, are being held by the police authorities for the murder of newly-elected Mexican mayor, Gisela Mota, Sunday. 33-year-old Mota was a federal lawmaker before she was appointed as the mayor of Temixco, as reported by New York Times Sunday.

Governor Graco Ramirez ordered stern security measures for all the mayors in Mexico after the tragic incident.

"The government will not be intimidated by organized crime," he said.

Ramirez said Mota's murder "is a message and a clear threat for the mayors who recently took office to not accept the police coordination scheme that we have supported and that is being built at a national level."

Mota was killed in her home Saturday morning, a day after she took the office. Police authorities were able to gun down two suspects, while the three others are under their custody.

"One theory could be that it was a warning to the other mayors," Bishop Ramon Castro told reporters. "If you don't cooperate with organized crime, look at what will happen to you. It's to scare them."

The slain Mexican mayor was described as "a strong and brave woman who, on taking office as mayor, declared that her fight against crime would be frontal and direct" by her center-left Democratic Revolution Party.

The Morelos state government also said Mota is "an honest and committed public servant," as noted by CNN Sunday. It also branded the attack as "a challenge that organized crime launched against the constitutional and democratic order."

"The government of the State of Morelos states categorically that we will not compromise or give a single step back in building a secure entity, in peace and harmony," the state government said.

Reports have revealed that several Mexican mayors were also murdered in the previous year. In addition to this, armed gangs funded by the drug trades control most of the states' local communities.