Groups fighting for women’s safety have launched an online campaign against what they called was a culture of rape in Brazil.
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In the video, the girl is apparently seen waking up from a drug-induced unconsciousness, and a man says, “Pounded the girl – get it?”
AFP reports two gang rapes of teenage girls including one supposedly involving 30 men that was filmed and posted online have shocked Brazil. Among those who saw them were the girl’s horrified family.
Her grandmother told local media that the motive was revenge because her boyfriend felt she had cheated on him.
In a message posted on Facebook, the victim said she was thankful for the support she had received and added: “I really thought I was going to be badly judged”. It does not hurt the uterus but the soul because there are cruel people not being punished!!
In a press conference, the police said that they haven’t spoken yet to the suspects who were identified.
Two others face charges related to distribution of the images online. Last night a hotline was set up by the police to nab the accused and since yesterday more than 800 people had called a hotline.
“Hours before news of this case broke, the Brazilian Education Minister Mendonca Filho held a high-profile meeting with Alexandre Frota, an actor and reality television star who has repeatedly said he would have no qualms about having sex with a woman who did not consent”. “It’s absurd that in the 21st century we have to live with barbarous crimes like this”.
The posting of the video by the perpetrators sparked a wave of revulsion among Brazilians on social media.
They said the case was initially being investigated as a cybercrime when the video emerged at the beginning of the week and only later did the girl come forward.
But that was soon overtaken by a deluge of condemnation. Rio de Janeiro, host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, far outpaces most of the country in the number of rape cases reported, however. She says she had gone to visit her boyfriend and fell unconscious. “This just gave form to the indignation that everyone is feeling about what happened”. Almost 50,000 rapes were reported in 2015 in Brazil. Already, the political and social outrage is building.
Temer’s predecessor, Dilma Rousseff – who was suspended earlier this month while she is being impeached by the senate – tweeted: “Again, I reiterate my rejection of violence against women”.
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However, conflicting versions of the story are still coming in, but the rape is said to have taken place in a poor community in western Rio.
