Laaloo Posted April 2, 2013 Posted April 2, 2013 RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A night out on the town turned into a nightmare after an American woman was gang raped and beaten aboard a public transport van while her French boyfriend was handcuffed, hit with a crowbar and forced to watch the attacks, police said. The incidents raise new questions about security in Rio, which has won kudos for its crackdown on once-endemic drug violence in preparation for hosting next year's football World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic games. The city also will be playing host to World Youth Day, a Roman Catholic pilgrimage that will be attended by Pope Francis and is expected to draw some 2 million people in late July. Three men aged 20 to 22 have been taken into custody in connection to the crime, which took place over six hours starting shortly after midnight Saturday, police said. The suspects have been accused of at least one similar attack, with a young Brazilian woman having come forward to say that she too was raped by the same men in the van on March 23, police said. "The victims described everything in great detail, mostly the sexual violence," police officer Rodrigo Brant told the Globo TV network. "Just how they described the facts was shocking — the violence and brutality. It surprised even us, who work in security and are used to hearing such things." The attack drew comparisons with the fatal December beating and gang rape of a young woman on a New Delhi bus in which six men beset a 23-year-old university student and male friend after they boarded a private bus. That attack touched off a wave of protests across India demanding stronger protection for women. Officials there say tourism has dropped in the country following the attacks. On Tuesday, Brazilian police were quick to emphasize to reporters the rarity of Saturday's attack. "These type of crimes committed against foreign tourists are very uncommon," said Alexandre Braga, the police officer leading the investigation. Officials from the local Olympic and World Cup organizing committees didn't immediately respond to requests for comment about how the attack might affect their security precautions. Braga said the two foreigners, who were in Brazil as students, took a public transport van similar to those often used as a faster alternative to the city's bus fleet. The pair were heading from Rio's Copacabana beach neighborhood to the nightlife hot spot of Lapa in downtown Rio. A few minutes into the ride, the suspects forced the other passengers to get out of the van and then raped the female tourist inside the moving vehicle, Braga said. The woman was also beaten across the face, and the man was handcuffed and beaten, at one point with a metal crowbar. The three suspects took turns behind the wheel, driving the van to Rio's sister city of Niteroi where they went on a spending spree with the foreigners' credit cards. Once they hit the limit on both cards, spending around $500 at gas stations and convenience stores, the suspects drove the pair back to Rio, where the foreigners were staying, and forced the woman to fetch another credit card, Braga said. Although she was alone, she didn't call the police or alert anyone, Braga said, "because the young man was still under the suspects' control and she feared something even worse might happen to him." The two were ultimately dumped by the side of a highway near the city of Itaborai, some 50 kilometers from Rio. After they managed to make it to an unidentified country's consulate, officials took the two to the special police delegation that specializes in crimes against foreigners. The young woman has returned to the U.S., while the man remains in Rio to help with the investigations, Braga said. "The victims recognized the three without a shadow of a doubt," Braga said. The Brazilian woman who said she had also been raped by the suspects last month recognized media images of the alleged attackers and contacted police. Another foreigner has said she'd been robbed by one of the three suspects, police said. Investigators are reviewing police databases to determine whether the three might have been involved in other crimes. Two of the suspects have confessed to Saturday's attack, while the third denies any responsibility, Braga said. "They do not show any repentance," he said. "They are quite indifferent, cold." The suspects rented the van, which seats about a dozen people and has dark tinted windows, from the vehicle's owner, who police say is not suspected of any involvement in the crime. Though they apparently had authorization to transport passengers in Niteroi and neighboring Sao Goncalo, the suspects were not allowed to operate the van in Rio, Braga said. "It appears they worked in transportation and sometimes engaged in crimes," said Braga. Many in Rio know of such van services for their precarious safety conditions and reckless driving, as well as their links to organized crime. Some vans are linked to militias largely composed of former police and firemen that control large swaths of the city's slums and run clandestine transportation and other services. In general, tourists avoid the vans and opt for regular buses or taxis. Foreigners are more often the targets of muggings and petty crime in Rio, with assaults a particular problem on public transit. Last year, a woman was raped on a moving bus in broad daylight in a widely publicized case, and the Rio subway has special women-only cars to help prevent such attacks. More than 5,300 cases of sexual assault were reported in Brazil between January and June 2012, according to the country's Health Ministry. http://news.yahoo.com/us-french-tourists-kidnapped-1-raped-rio-153518185.html
Stuge Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 i think you mis-spelt india doesn't seem funny at all .
Ultimate_Game Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 Brazil is one of the most unsafe countries in the world with a huge gap, nay chasm, between haves and have nots. Have talked to a few folks from Brazil and they said that rich folks/businessmen don't even travel by roads there due to rampant kidnapping/carjacking etc. and prefer to commute by air with helipads all over the place. If anyone is planning to go there be fore-warned! The place is as bad as Mexico as far as crime is concerned.
indiaregulator Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 Right, someone mentioned the world cup. Do *****ing Fifa have an agenda right now or something? 2006 world cup was held in Germany. No issues there with me. 2010 world cup was held in South Africa. South Africa are hardly a footballing nation. It has some of the worst rape and murder statistics in the world. Gangs are prevalent throughout the country and people hardly leave their houses in fear of attacks, especially in Jo'burg. 2014 world cup to be held in Rio. Favela gangs, rape, kidnapping, human trafficking, gun crime and general crime aplenty. Some of the poorest, slummest places in the world. What's the bloody reason for hosting it there? 2018 world cup to be held in Russia. A country famous for its crime syndicates, extreme amount of racism, dirty money, black markets, arms trade, neo-nazism, political corruption and political extremism. Meanwhile, an England bid was rejected because....of what exactly? England has the worlds best football infrastructure, the most passionate fans and it's reputation for a safe country is exponentially better than all the others. Are you telling me that Russia have better stadiums than Old Trafford, Wembley, Milemnium Stadium, Emirates, Etihad etc? 2022. Qatar. Qar-Fecking-Tar. Half of them don't play football and their team are almost entirely Brazilian rejects paid to play for them. They don't have any real footballing infrastructure and the amount of people expected to watch a world cup is double their population. WHY.
Texy Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 Brazil is a giant sh1thole 3rd world country where violence, murder, rapes are a common occurrence. I've asked a few Brazilians and they're expecting disasters in 2014 & 2016.
Clarke Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 Brazil is a giant sh1thole 3rd world country where violence' date= murder, rapes are a common occurrence. I've asked a few Brazilians and they're expecting disasters in 2014 & 2016. No. Its the leader in HDI in the major developing countries.
Silva Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 No. Its the leader in HDI in the major developing countries. True but I don't think HDI takes into account crime rates. But then again theirs no way indias crime rate is as low as the indian government claims that it is. :hmmm:
Clarke Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 True but I don't think HDI takes into account crime rates. But then again theirs no way indias crime rate is as low as the indian government claims that it is. :hmmm: I just don't agree with the 3rd world **** description for the country in question.
hhunaeh Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 there was a girl gang raped on a bus in britain in the same week. media seems silent on this. only brazil and india are easy targets. an article on wsj was comparing india and brazil on the rapes which happened in buses, but strangely forgot to make any mention of britain.
Laaloo Posted April 3, 2013 Author Posted April 3, 2013 I was listening to Espn radio in the morning, dont know if it was mike and mike or colin cowherd but one of them mentioned that in the US, 60% of rape cases go unreported. That is a staggering number for a first world country
indiaregulator Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 there was a girl gang raped on a bus in britain in the same week. media seems silent on this. only brazil and india are easy targets. an article on wsj was comparing india and brazil on the rapes which happened in buses, but strangely forgot to make any mention of britain. Silent on this? It was all over the fecking news.
1983-2011 Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 Silent on this? It was all over the fecking news. when was this, u got link to the story?
hhunaeh Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 Silent on this? It was all over the fecking news. They are treated differently. News from India and brazil are on the front page, for the britain news you have to dig into the crime sections of newspapers. The entire nature and number of comments changes if the crime is from a first world country. The british article is not in multiple news cycles and does get editorials discussing the crime. First world crime is just seen as a crime and not as moral failure of the entire society.
hhunaeh Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 Where was the media storm on this crime? http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Lavo-Nightclub-Tourist-Rape-Sexual-Assault-Alleyway-Suspect-Sought-190788971.html I don't see any americans apologizing for being american, like the indians are made to do after every crime in india
Ultimate_Game Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 I was listening to Espn radio in the morning' date=' dont know if it was mike and mike or colin cowherd but one of them mentioned that in the US, 60% of rape cases go unreported. That is a staggering number for a first world country[/quote'] Majority of rapes, irrespective of the country, go unreported. No matter where you are from, stigma and mental trauma attached to rapes is so much that victims prefer to stay away from public eye and try to forget it as a bad dream.
indiaregulator Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 when was this, u got link to the story? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-21974375 http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/03/29/driver-unaware-rape-glasgow-bus-teen_n_2981085.html http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/how-could-this-happen-in-glasgow.20661797 They are treated differently. News from India and brazil are on the front page, for the britain news you have to dig into the crime sections of newspapers. The entire nature and number of comments changes if the crime is from a first world country. The british article is not in multiple news cycles and does get editorials discussing the crime. First world crime is just seen as a crime and not as moral failure of the entire society. The feck? It was front headline of The BBC website, The Daily Mail and The Guardian.
Laaloo Posted April 3, 2013 Author Posted April 3, 2013 Majority of rapes' date=' irrespective of the country, go unreported. No matter where you are from, stigma and mental trauma attached to rapes is so much that victims prefer to stay away from public eye and try to forget it as a bad dream.[/quote'] I know I was just saying that in a "developed" country like America, this happens. America shining indeed
hhunaeh Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-21974375 http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/03/29/driver-unaware-rape-glasgow-bus-teen_n_2981085.html http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/how-could-this-happen-in-glasgow.20661797 The feck? It was front headline of The BBC website, The Daily Mail and The Guardian. It is about the amount of coverage and the type of coverage the stories get and the reaction of people which you get to read in the comment section. It is completely different. One is dealt as a crime, the story is here today and gone tomorrow and the other is made into a cultural panic attack with repeated coverage. You can feck all you want, but the fact that you had to put up links here to let people know about the gang rape in glasgow just proves my point.
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