Extremists Try To Stop Abortion For Raped Girl, Aged 10

Story By: Lisa-Maria Goertz, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

Military police had to protect a hospital from angry protesters from religious groups after information was leaked about the whereabouts of a 10-year-old girl raped by her uncle who was to undergo an abortion.

The ten-year-old girl is from the municipality of Sao Mateus in the eastern Brazilian state of Espirito Santo and they wanted to stop the abortion.

According to national newspaper G1, the girl had gone to the hospital complaining of abdominal pains and was found to be pregnant.

Newsflash

The girl confessed to the medical staff that her uncle had been raping her since the age of six, but she never reported him because he threatened her, according to G1.

Reportedly her uncle, an unnamed 33-year-old man, has been indicted for rape but is on the run.

The little girl underwent a procedure to interrupt the pregnancy at a referral hospital in Pernambuco, where angry protesters linked to religious groups gathered outside and even tried to break into the hospital to stop it going ahead.

Newsflash

According to G1 the protesters, opposed to abortion, gathered outside the hospital after the right-wing extremist Sara Giromini divulged the name of the girl and the hospital in a video she posted on social media.

The protesters reportedly tried to prevent the hospital director from entering the building and tried to break inside, until the Military Police was called in to guard the unit.

In a note, Facebook said that “the video in question has been removed for violating our policies by promoting potential harm to people in the offline world in a coordinated manner.”

Newsflash

There was also an act in support of the procedure and defending the rights of the child.

According to hospital management, the girl is doing well.

The Pernambuco Department of Health stated that the procedure was done with judicial authorisation and that “all legal parameters are being strictly followed”.

Newsflash

The Sao Mateus Children’s and Youth Prosecutor’s Office is investigating whether religious groups tried to pressure the girl’s family to not go through with the abortion after analysing audio clips sent to them.

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