A terrifying story of attempted murder has emerged from Brazil. The victim was a fourteen year old girl, and all of the suspects are between thirteen and sixteen. The alleged motive is jealousy over a teenage boy that one of the suspects was seeing.
The girls were videotaped while committing the brutal assault which involved various weapons and lasted for almost four hours.
The attack took place in Trindade, a city located in the central Brazilian state of Goias. Local authorities found the disturbing footage of the attack on one of the suspect’s phones.
Apparently, the four suspects, all girls between thirteen and sixteen years of age, lured the fourteen year old victim to one of their houses by telling her a party was going on. They had dug a shallow grave in the yard to dispose of the victim, and then proceeded to torture her for almost four hours.
The alleged motive is jealousy. One of the attackers was involved romantically with a sixteen year old neighborhood boy, and she suspected that the victim had been competing for his attentions. Apparently, she had been planning a fifteenth birthday party with the help of one of the attacker’s boyfriends.
The attack, which lasted almost four hours before the victim was able to free herself and run away, involved binding her limbs, gagging her, throwing her into the shallow pit they intended to use as her grave, and assault with various weapons including wooden sticks and a machete.
According to the victim “They called me round to their house and when I arrived, they began to hit me. They tied me up and showed me where I was going to be buried. Then they stabbed me and put me in the hole in the ground. I thought I was going to die there.”
The victim was able to free herself at some point and able to get assistance from nearby people. After her escape, the four attackers attempted to cover up their actions, including washing the blood off their hands.
Police investigators do believe they intended to kill the girl, as one of the suspects commented that she was annoyed at the victim’s escape. She reportedly said that their plan failed because they were “slack.”
Speaking with news media police chief Renata Vieiro says “The youngsters we arrested said the victim started seeing that boy,” said police chief Renata Vieira. “These girls all went to the same school and one of them had known the victim at least 10 years,” Vieira added.
The suspects are facing charges of torture and attempted homicide. However, because of their youthful age, they may expect to serve only three years in a juvenile detention facility, if found guilty.
Judge Karine Spinelli says “The whole thing is terrifying. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a situation like this.” The judge agreed to keep the four suspects in custody until the investigation is complete.
The girls have been receiving death threats on social media since the story broke and remanding them to the custody of the state until the investigation is over may have as much to do with protecting their safety as the vicious nature of the crimes they are accused of.
Can you believe the severity of this attack by teenage girls? If they are found guilty, what do you think their punishment should be? Share your opinions with us here.
