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      Accused of kidnapping an indigenous child, Damares says she is being persecuted.

      Brazil's Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves, who was the target of a report in Época magazine accusing her of kidnapping and illegally adopting an indigenous child, said the accusation is the result of persecution for her actions against corruption. "The attempted character assassination I am suffering has one origin: that this minister WILL NOT remain silent in the face of any suspicion of corruption," she posted on Twitter; according to Damares, she is "stirring up certain secrets in the Ministry. This creates enemies."

      Accused of kidnapping an indigenous child, Damares says she is being persecuted (Photo: Wilson Dias/Agência Brasil)

      247 - Brazil's Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves, who was the subject of a report in Época magazine alleging she kidnapped and irregularly adopted an indigenous child, said the accusation is the result of persecution for her actions against corruption. "The attempted character assassination I am suffering has one origin: that this minister WILL NOT remain silent in the face of any suspicion of corruption! I thank everyone for their support and we remain firm and strong in building a better Brazil," she posted on Twitter. According to Damares, she is "stirring up certain messes in the Ministry. This creates enemies," highlights an image posted subsequently.

      The complaint, which hit newsstands this Friday (1), highlights that the NGO Atini, founded by Damares, is the target of actions that are being processed under judicial secrecy. One of the actions focuses on a 16-year-old indigenous girl who, in 2010, was taken pregnant by her maternal uncle to an Atini farm and registered as Damares' daughter.

      On Thursday (31), Damares denied through a note that she had kidnapped the indigenous woman Kajutiti Lulu Kamayurá, now 20 years old, and stated that she is the young woman's "caregiver". "Lulu was not snatched from the arms of her family. She left with the full consent of everyone and accompanied by uncles, cousins ​​and siblings for orthodontic treatment, for malnutrition and dehydration. She also came to Brasília to study," the minister said in a note.

      According to testimonies from indigenous people of the Kamayurá village, located in the center of the Xingu indigenous reserve in Mato Grosso, Lulu was irregularly removed from the tribe at age 6 by Damares' friend and right-hand woman, Márcia Suzuki (who, along with Damares, is the founder of the NGO Atini), under the pretext of receiving dental treatment in the city, but never returned.

      See Damares Alves' tweet on the subject.