Victim speaks about the night she was raped by Leandro Lehart, from Art Popular: 'monster committed atrocities against me'

247 - Rita de Cássia Corrêa, the woman who accused musician Leandro Lehart, from the group Art Popular, of rape, gave an interview to the program Fantástico and spoke out about the series of violent acts she suffered. 

“My life today is made up of psychological and physical pain, of limitations. I wanted to talk to you in a way that would show everyone the indignation I feel. This monster committed all these atrocities against me in one night,” she began. 

She told reporter Valmir Salaro, in matter reproduced on the G1 portal, which began to approach the musician in 2017.

“I exchanged a message praising his work. Through inbox on a social network, he ended up replying to me. Seeing that I played piano and worked with music, he invited me to his residence so that I could see the studio and play the piano,” recalls Rita.

The house is located in an upscale area in the northern part of São Paulo. After that, according to Rita, other encounters took place. In five of them, there were sexual relations. "Always very polite, very kind, very courteous," says Rita.

But in 2019, she says she went through a violent and degrading situation, a trauma from which she has not yet recovered.

“He invited me to go up to his room, which was upstairs. I agreed and went up. He stopped and asked, ‘Shall we go to the bathroom to finish there? Because we could take a shower from there.’ I didn’t see anything wrong with that. In leaving the room and finishing the sexual encounter there in the bathroom,” says Rita.

In the bathroom, she claims that Leandro was aggressive, immobilized her, and then committed a grotesque and scatological act of violence.

"In my mouth. I started struggling and begging him to stop. And trying to get him off me, but I couldn't. He even masturbated until he reached orgasm."

She says that Leandro kept her locked in the bathroom for quite some time. According to Rita, after the humiliations and abuse, Leandro called a ride-sharing driver and let her go.

“I went straight to the bathroom. Right there on the floor, I broke down crying and stayed there for a long time trying to clean myself, trying to get rid of that horrible smell, that taste, brushing my teeth. Right there under the shower,” Rita recalls.

From that day forward, Rita's life spiraled out of control. She struggled with serious emotional problems, lost her job as an access controller on the São Paulo subway, and even attempted suicide.

In his testimony to the court, the musician denied the accusations. He said that the messages in which he confesses to the abuse do not express the truth. According to him, they were merely humanitarian aid to make Rita feel more comfortable, to comfort her and to help her forget her suicidal thoughts.

The judge in the case convicted Leandro Lehart of rape and false imprisonment for keeping the victim, Rita, locked in the bathroom. Total sentence: 9 years, 7 months and six days in prison. The musician can appeal while free.

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