Brazil Gang Rape Video: After Release Of Brutal Video Showing 30 Men Raping Teenager, Police In Rio De Janeiro Make First Arrest


Video of a brutal gang rape in Brazil went viral this week, and now the disturbing footage has helped police in Rio de Janeiro arrest the first of close to 30 men who took part in raping a 16-year-old girl.

The incident happened last weekend when the teenager was raped at her 19-year-old boyfriend’s house. The 16-year-old said she has no memory of how the rape started, but remembered waking up to close to 30 men surrounding her, many of them armed. The men took turns raping her, the girl later told police, with some or all of them taking part.

The Brazil gang rape case took an even darker turn when video and pictures of the assault were uploaded by some of the attackers. In the 40-second gang rape video, two men could be heard bragging that there were “more than 30” men raping the victim. The video also had close-up images of the naked girl, with men using vulgar language and poking her.

The tweets that revealed the pictures and video generated plenty of attention, including many who made fun of the rape victim and even blamed her for the attack.

But the Brazil gang rape video is now leading to justice against the estimated 33 men involved. Police have identified four of the men involved and have called on the public to help find the roughly 30 more who allegedly took part.

The plea for help has generated a huge response, with more than 800 tips pouring in to police. On Saturday, police announced that the first man had been taken into custody, CNN reported.

The incident has even grabbed the attention of Brazil President Michel Temer, who called an emergency meeting of security ministers to address the rape crisis in the nation. He has also vowed to create a federal police force focused solely on violence against women.

“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 Brazil gang rape victim herself is also speaking out, calling out those who have blamed her for the attack.

“I want them to await the justice of God. I feel like trash,” the 16-year-old told Brazil’s O Globo newspaper. “It’s the stigma that hurts me the most. It is as if people are saying ‘it’s her fault. She was using scanty clothes.’ I want people to know that it is not the woman’s fault. You can’t blame a robbery victim, for being robbed.”

The release of the Brazil gang rape video has also led to widespread protests across the country. Hundreds of people took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro, and took to the internet, using the hashtag #EstuproNuncaMais (RapeNeverAgain).

The victim herself has become one of the biggest advocates of the movement, saying that her case is sadly not unique in a country where rape often goes unpunished.

There were close to 50,000 rapes reported in Brazil for 2015, though a much larger number went unreported, the Washington Post reported. The situation is much worse in Rio de Janeiro, where rapes occur at a rate of 13 per day.

“It’s not my uterus that hurts, it’s my soul, because there are such cruel people who are not punished,” she wrote on Facebook in her native Portuguese. “I really thought I’d be judged badly. But I wasn’t. We could all go through this one day.”

The Brazil gang rape video has also led to a flood of response videos from women, some defending the 16-year-old victim who is facing blame and slurs online and others sharing their own stories of being raped.

[Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images]

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