Police officers accused of rape in Jacarezinho.
The Public Prosecutor's Office of Rio de Janeiro (MP-RJ) has filed charges against three military police officers from the UPP (Pacifying Police Unit) of Jacarezinho, in the northern zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, arrested in the act earlier this month, accused of raping three young women living in the community; one of the victims is 16 years old. According to the MP-RJ, the police officers also assaulted the young women with slaps and punches and made death threats.
Flavia Villela - Reporter for Agência Brasil
The Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Rio de Janeiro (MP-RJ) has filed charges against three military police officers from the Pacifying Police Unit (UPP) of Jacarezinho, in the northern zone of the state capital, arrested in the act earlier this month, accused of raping three young women living in the community. One of the victims is 16 years old.
According to the complaint, around midnight on August 5th, the defendants arrived at an alley located under an overpass in Benfica and were harassed by drug users, who threw stones at the military police officers. In response, the officers decided to enter the houses near the location and force residents to leave their homes. During this action, the police found the victims, who were taken to a shack.
According to the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor's Office, the police officers assaulted the young women with slaps and punches, made death threats, and raped them. Immediately after the crime, the victims went to the police station and underwent a forensic medical examination at the Institute of Legal Medicine. The house where the crimes occurred, according to the victims, was examined by forensic experts, and investigators collected genetic material for DNA testing.
According to prosecutor Paulo Roberto Mello Cunha Júnior, from the 2nd Public Prosecutor's Office, the accused police officers represent "a clear risk to public order," demonstrating violent behavior and a distorted personality. "It is easily perceived that the barbaric conduct of the accused had the sole objective of blindly avenging themselves for having been, moments before, harassed by drug users, humiliating, assaulting, and violating whomever they pleased," argued the prosecutor in the indictment.
The Public Prosecutor's Office also requested that 11 witnesses be summoned to testify in court.
The Public Security Secretariat of the State of Rio de Janeiro reported that "in all cases where the involvement of public agents in any situation inconsistent with police work has been proven, there has been exemplary punishment. And this will continue to be the case in every instance."