Cookloses part of her vision after being attacked at a show in the Pelourinho
Caseoccurred during the show of a popular Carnaval musical/social group in Salvador, Bahia, on January 22nd. Victim says assault was made by a Military Police officer duringa melee.
A 34-year old cook losther the vision in her left eye after being assaulted during a show of the Bloco Afro, Olodum, on January 22 in the historicPelourinho district of Salvador, Bahia in Brazil’s northeast.
She reported that the violencewas perpetrated by military police who were on duty at the event.”Suddenly, three cops of a police patrol popped up. They grabbed a friendof mine and after the confusion ended I realized that I got hit and passed out;I only came to at the hospital,” said the victim.
The cook was initiallytreated at the Hospital Geral do Estado (HE – State General Hospital), whereshe remained from January 22nd to 24th, when she was transferred to theHospital do Subúrbio (Suburban Hospital) to undergo surgery. She said she wasdiagnosed with a broken facial bone, eyeball and eyelids but that the vision inher left eye had yet to return.
The victim wasdischarged from the facility on January 26th and is recovering at home. “Ihave four stitches in my left eyelid and it’s hard to see with my right eye. Iwork in a buffet, over an industrial oven, and I’m away right now; I don’t knowhow it will go, if I’ll be able to go back. I have a 12 year old son thatdepends on me for everything,” she says.
The victim says thatshe filed a complaint at the 1st precinct police station located in theneighborhood of Barris, where she also endured a forensic examination onFriday (27th).
Unseen footage taken byan amateur videographer, who declined to be identified, show that the victim waswith a group of friends when confusion began in the area which led to theintervention of the military police. One of them hit the victim’s face with anightstick. Her sister tried desperately to help her and got help from peoplein the crowd to remove the victim from the site of the confusion.
The military policereported that 150 agents were working at the time and that an investigationwill be opened involving the case. “We will effectively verify themilitary policeman who committed this possible infraction and, once identified,we will open an administrative disciplinary proceeding through our internalaffairs. The military policeman, the identified accused, will be punished bythe military police and he could get fired from the department,” says thecoordinator of Planning Operations of the 18th Battalion, Adilson Santana.
See video of the incident below.
Report in Portuguese is a basic description similar to what is written above.
Source: Black Women of Brazil
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