A woman attends a protest against rape and violence against women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 27, 2016.
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Brazilian police are searching for more than 30 men suspected of having raped a teenage girl in Rio de Janeiro and uploaded the video of the attack on social media.
The girl’s 19-year-old boyfriend was one of the men being sought, but police said they did not know whether he may have been one of the attackers.
The plea for help has generated a huge response, with more than 800 tips pouring in to police.
He vowed to form a federal police unit to deal with violence against women.
The reported assault was discovered after one of the suspects posted to Twitter a video of the nude, semi-conscious youth, with a few men brazenly insulting the girl, showing their faces, and one man heard saying, “more than 30 impregnated her!”
The assault has provoked an online campaign against what campaigners call a culture of rape in Brazil. But she woke up in another house the following day and found 33 men with rifles and guns.
“It’s absurd that in the 21st century we have to live with barbarous crimes like this”, Temer said in a statement, via the Associated Press.
The posted video featured the victim in a naked state on a bed and the apparent rapists bragging that she had been raped by more than 30 men.
Police said the men were armed, though it wasn’t clear if the weapons were used to intimidate the girl during the attack.
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. He also confirmed that he filmed the young girl while she was naked and unconscious – but denied that any violence was perpetrated against her.
The victim post a message on Facebook, that she was thankful for the support she had received and added: “I really thought I was going to be badly judged”. “It doesn’t hurt my body, but my soul”. “Thanks for the support”. While the rape itself is appalling enough, perpetrators filmed the entire crime and shared on social media, ridiculing the victim.
“When I watched the video, I said to myself, “My God, what is this?'” said Thomaz, the president of a local residents” association. “I feel like trash”, the 16-year-old told Brazil’s O Globo newspaper.
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Experts say many cases of rape in Brazil go unreported as victims fear retaliation, shame, and blame for the violence they have suffered.
