Six Charged After Electrocuted Girl Died At Hip Hop Party

A woman’s legal battle to bring those responsible for her sister’s death to court has been vindicated four years after she was electrocuted at a party.

Maria Fernanda Ferreira de Lima, 20, poses in undated photo. Six men were found guilty of the her death, she was electrocuted at a party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2019. (Newsflash)

Victim Maria Fernanda Ferreira de Lima, 20, died after she touched an electrified iron bar at a music event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in April 2019.

At the time, say her family, officials did little to punish party organisers.

Now six suspects are to face manslaughter charges accused of negligence over Maria’s death.

Her family say the party was overcrowded and did not even have the necessary certificates from local fire department chiefs.

Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor’s Office has now charged six people – including the site manager, individuals responsible for installing the equipment and a civilian firefighter who worked at the location – with involuntary manslaughter.

Maria’s sister, Gabriella Lima told local media: “Our family was destroyed after the death of my sister.

“Our lives have never been the same. Every day is a struggle to move forward.

Maria Fernanda Ferreira de Lima, 20, poses in undated photo. Six men were found guilty of the her death, she was electrocuted at a party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2019. (Newsflash)

“It’s something that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.”

Maria attended the hip hop event in Rio on 14th April, 2019 and died when she touched a metal structure that had live electrical current running through it.

She suffered four cardiac arrests and was later declared dead at hospital.

Gabriella continued: “My sister went to the party to have fun. She trusted the party organisers and the place where she was going to have fun, and that trust resulted in her death.

“This charge was a big step, something that I have been fighting for over the past four years. It happened, but it’s incomplete.

“The party organisers were not charged. Why? Why weren’t they charged?”

Public prosecutor Marcelo Muniz said that there is nothing preventing the organisers from being charged in the future.

Maria Fernanda Ferreira de Lima, 20, poses in undated photo. Six men were found guilty of the her death, she was electrocuted at a party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2019. (Newsflash)

He said: “In this first wave, those who acted recklessly and negligently were charged.

“An investigation is ongoing, and if these individuals are implicated in a similar manner, they will undoubtedly be included in this trial in the future.