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| The three suspects arrested in the case |
(Scroll down for video) A woman was raped by a gang of young men while her boyfriend was tied up and forced to watch the attack while riding a van transporting them to a hotspot for nightlife, according to press reports in Brazil.
The night out around town became a nightmare after the U.S. woman was raped and beaten aboard a public transport van while her French boyfriend was handcuffed, beaten with an iron bar and forced to watch the attack, police said.
The incident raises new questions about safety in Rio, which has earned a reputation for its crackdown on drug violence in preparation to host next year's FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. The city also will host the World Youth Day, a Catholic pilgrimage which will be attended by Pope Francis and is expected to attract about 2 million people.
Three men aged between 20 and 22 have been arrested in connection with the crime, which took place over six hours from midnight on Saturday, police said. The suspects have been charged with at least one similar attack, against a young Brazilian woman who has come forward to say that she was raped by the same men in the van last week, police said.
"The victims described the attack in great detail, especially the sexual violence," a police officer close to the investigation told a television news station. "Just the way they described the events was surprising. The violence and brutality surprised even us who work in security and are accustomed to hear such things," the police officer said.
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 city buses.
Within minutes of the ride, the suspects forced the passengers to get out of the van and then raped the female tourist inside the moving vehicle. The woman was also beaten in the face, and the man was handcuffed and beaten, at one point with a metal bar.
The three suspects took turns at the wheel, driving the van, where they went off on a spending spree with the credit cards of the foreigners.
Once they reached the limit of the two cards, spending about $500 in gas stations and convenience stores, the suspects took the pair back to Rio, where the foreigners were staying, and forced the woman to give them another card credit.
“Tourists need to be extremely careful. Tourists who come to Brazil are seeking to have fun around the country but there are dangerous criminals watching their every step in order to strike,” Alfonso Guerrero, 29, a security guard in Brazil told YourJewishNews.com.Mobile video not loading? Click here to view