A year-old girl arrested on petty theft charges was left for weeks in a jail cell with 21 men, who raped her, tortured her and allowed her food only in exchange for sex. Her screams could be heard from the street. Yet police refused to act, and it took a tip to the local media to finally free her.
Ten police and prison officials and two inmates face up to 20 years in jail if convicted, and a verdict in the trial is expected this month. After the scandal came to light, Para state Gov. After the uproar over the case, Carepa, congressmen, and even the president vowed to tackle the problems that caused the assault: callous, corrupt police and a jail system with few separate cells for women.
The jailhouse was demolished. Yet Para, a jungle state twice the size of France, still has only six separate cells for women at its jails. The chief is under judicial investigation and not speaking publicly about the jailing. Guardian Council went to the local media with the story.
Serrano says her story is much like that of the victim, who is not being identified because she was sexually assaulted. Both come from homes where stepfathers abused them, forcing them out onto the streets to live among prostitutes, crooks and crack dealers. Drug dealing and prostitution often lure local teens, also leaving them vulnerable to police abuse. Carepa pledged then to try to stop it.
But while the state is working on new jailhouses, it has mostly transferred women to other prisons, a move Amnesty International says improves conditions but leaves them farther from loved ones. Abaetetuba is a major transshipment point for cocaine arriving from Colombia and heading off to Suriname and Guyana to the north. It was in these environs that the year-old victim was arrested for breaking into a house on Oct. Days after the scandal broke, reports of other women jailed with men began popping up across Brazil -- most notably a year-old woman forced to share a cell with 70 men in Paraopebas in southern Para.
