A 17-year-old girl was allegedly lured by her ex-boyfriend to an apartment in Copacabana. The four toArgentinians, of adult age, invaded the room and assaulted her. Other alleged victims reported new cases.
The case of collective rape of a 17-year-old teenager, in an apartment in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, is generating enormous outrage throughout Brazil. The episode became public over the weekend, after the Civil Police carried out efforts to locate the suspects.
According to the investigation, the crime occurred on January 31st. A 17-year-old teenager allegedly took the victim, his ex-girlfriend, to the location, where four other defendants were believed to be. When the victim was in the room with her ex-boyfriend, in a consensual relationship, the room was allegedly invaded by the four accused.
In the bedroom, the teenager asked the victim to accept the other men’s stay, which the minor reportedly consented to. Then, the men allegedly began to touch and kiss her forcibly. The victim would have been prevented from leaving, raped and assaulted physically.
After the attacks, one of the accused told the victim to take a friend next time.
Upon arriving home, the young woman told her family what happened and was taken to a police station to file a complaint. The medical-legal examination indicated injuries compatible with physical violence. Video surveillance footage recorded the group’s arrival at the apartment and the moment the victim — and then the accused — left the place. Conversations on a messaging app were also included in the research.
From suspects to accused
The police concluded the investigation and charged the four adult suspects with qualified violation — because the victim was a minor — and seizure. As one of those involved is a minor, the case was sent to the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ), with a request for arrest for an act similar to the crime.
O The Public Prosecutor’s Office spoke out against the child’s internment. According to G1, prosecutor Carlos Marcelo Messenberg, from the 1st Prosecutor’s Office for Children and Youth Offenders in the capital, stated that there were no elements in the process that would justify the young man’s arrest.
The Rio de Janeiro Court accepted the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s accusation against the four adults, who now face charges of qualified rape and kidnapping. The penalty can reach almost 20 years in prison.
Who are the defendants
The four accused are Mattheus Verissimo Zoel Martins (19), João Gabriel Xavier Bertho (19), Bruno Felipe dos Santos Allegretti (18) and Vitor Hugo Oliveira Simonin (18).
João Gabriel was a football player for Serrano, the club that removed him after the case became public. The teenager and Vitor Hugo are students at Colégio Pedro II, an institution that opened an administrative process to remove the suspects.
Vitor Hugo is the son of José Carlos Costa Simonin, state undersecretary for Governance, Compliance and Administrative Management, who was exonerated after the repercussion of the case.
Bruno Allegretti is an Environmental Sciences student at Unirio, which suspended him for 120 days, and Mattheus Martins is an athlete from SC Humaitá.
The four handed themselves over to the police and were detained. The defenses of João Gabriel and Vitor Hugo deny the occurrence of rape.
“Premeditated ambush”
In an interview with RJ1, police chief Ângelo Lajes said that the teenager was the victim of a premeditated ambush.
“The teenager took advantage of the trust he had with this teenager. He studied at the same school, had a previous relationship. He invited her to the apartment and arranged in advance with the other defendants. Upon her arrival at the property, they went to the room and committed not only sexual but also psychological and physical violence”, he stated.
Other alleged victims
After the case became public, two other victims reported violations to the police that had allegedly been committed by some of the group’s members.
One of the cases will have occurred in 2023, when the supposed victim was just 14 years oldand the other in October last year.
According to , the teenager, who was 14 years old when she was allegedly attacked, said she did not report the rape at the time because she was filmed and threatened by the aggressor.
The teenager reported that she was invited to go to the house of Matheus Martins, who was being investigated in this case. According to the testimony, at least two of the suspects participated in the sexual violence and recorded and released images of the crime.
“We are going to treat the case with great caution because we need to work in a very technical way. As soon as these victims appear at the police station, they will be interviewed so that we can bring the evidence to the file”, said Lajes, in an interview with RJ1.
