Rio Gang-Rape Victim: 'Nobody Deserves This'

Describes assault, stigma that followed
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 31, 2016 7:50 AM CDT
Rio Gang-Rape Victim: 'Nobody Deserves This'
Gang rape suspect Rai de Souza, 22, is escorted by officers in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.   (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

"I fell asleep and woke up in a completely different place, with a man under me, one on top of me and two holding me down," the Rio de Janeiro teenager who was allegedly gang-raped by more than 30 men says in an interview, per CNN. "I was drugged, I was very groggy, there were lots of people with guns, lots of young guys laughing and talking," she adds, per Al Jazeera. Brazilian police say the assault occurred, but a rape kit—meant to be completed within 72 hours—was only done after five days and didn't give conclusive evidence, reports CBS News. "Traces were lost because of time," the police chief says. But if a video showing men surrounding the woman's unconscious body "is true, and it looks to be true, there is no doubt it was rape."

So far only two men have been arrested. Police are searching for four others, though the victim says 33 men and boys were involved. "I am waiting for the justice of God," she says. "If I have to wait for the justice system, they've already shown that nothing is going to happen." She adds that the lead investigator—who has since been replaced—asked her if she often had group sex. Others say she should've expected the assault because she was in a slum controlled by a drug gang. "They tried to incriminate me, as if it was my fault I was raped," she says, per the Washington Post. "It not only hurt me, it hurt my soul," she adds. "Nobody deserves this. It doesn't matter if I was wearing short clothes or longer clothes, it doesn't matter where I was." (More Brazil stories.)

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