Two military police officers were arrested in the act on Monday morning (24) in São Paulo, suspected of robbing three young people at gunpoint and raping a 17-year-old girl in the city's East Zone. According to the Civil Police, which handles investigations in Brazil, the officers were off duty when the crimes took place overnight and were identified by the victims at the 24th police station, in the Ponte Rasa district, where the case was registered. The Polícia Militar is the uniformed state force responsible for street patrols.
According to news outlet G1, the officers were identified as Victor Miguel Sebastião da Silva and Willian Santana Santos. Newspaper Metrópoles reported that both serve in the 2nd Company of the 2nd Metropolitan Military Police Battalion, a unit covering part of the East Zone, a sprawling working-class area of São Paulo.
The victims, two young women aged 17 and 18 and a 19-year-old man, told police they were at a party at a gas station on Avenida Itaquera when they accepted a ride from two men in a gray Volkswagen Fox. The group stopped at a fast-food restaurant near Avenida Jacu-Pêssego before the route changed: one of the men pulled a firearm, announced the robbery and prevented the three from leaving the car. The young women handed over their cellphones, while the man managed to hide his.
The car then headed to a deserted area near Parque Jacuí, in Jardim Pantanal, on the city's far east side. According to the police report, the armed suspect ordered the other man out of the vehicle with the 18-year-old and the young man, stayed alone with the teenager and forced her into sex under threat. "He said he would shoot if she did not do what he ordered," the victim's sister told G1. After the assault, the pair drove around with the group before abandoning them; the three found a police patrol car and asked for help.
Identification and arrest
While registering the case, officers found that the car described by the victims belonged to a military policeman due to start his shift that morning. His company commander took both officers to the 24th police station, where the three victims picked them out in person without knowing the suspects were police. One was identified as a co-author of the robbery; the other, as the author of the robbery and the sexual assault. The police chief ordered both arrested, in a procedure witnessed by an officer from the force's internal affairs unit. According to Folha de S.Paulo, the two were taken to the Romão Gomes military prison, in the city's North Zone.
In a statement, the São Paulo Public Security Secretariat said the Military Police "does not tolerate misconduct" and acted firmly by immediately handing the officers over to the Civil Police. The case is investigated through an internal military inquiry and by the Civil Police. The teenager underwent a forensic medical examination, according to her family, which says it fears retaliation now that the case has become public.