A two-year-old girl has died in intensive care and her uncle has been arrested for repeatedly raping her and torturing her.
The alleged crimes took place in a rural area of the municipality of Pocone, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, with Maria Vitoria Lopes dos Santos, aged two years and seven months, dying on Monday (8th November).
New details have now emerged surrounding the case, which has caused outrage in Brazil, with evidence showing that the young girl had been repeatedly raped, allegedly by her uncle, who also tortured her, according to local media outlet VGN.
Maria had been living with her uncle and his wife after they obtained custody of her because her parents, reportedly drug addicts, were unable to care for her and abused her.
It has now emerged that her uncle allegedly raped her twice a week and tortured her, including with a cattle rope. She was also reportedly deprived of food.
Maria was reportedly found unconscious by her bed by her aunt one morning, and after she reportedly bathed her, she took her for medical treatment, and she was immediately hospitalised in a critical condition, suffering from suspected brain death.
A source from the emergency room at the hospital where she was being treated told local media outlet VGN shortly after her death on Monday: “The child was brought from Pocone and was admitted to the Varzea Grande Emergency Room with bruising in the skull region and in the body region.
“She was referred to the paediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU), intubated, in a critical neurological condition, and the physical examination infers brain death. We are just awaiting the necessary protocols and the neurologist.”
The unnamed source added: “She succumbed this morning.”
The child’s aunt and uncle, who have not been named, had already been arrested a few days before her death, on Wednesday 4th November.
After at first denying the accusations, the victim’s aunt reportedly confessed to multiple counts of rape committed by her partner, which were carried out twice a week and during which the child reportedly screamed in pain: “No! No! It hurts! It hurts!”
The young girl’s aunt said that she had no intention of keeping the girl but that she was doing a favour to her mother-in-law before she died so that the child would not end up in a shelter.
She said: “The girl is not my daughter, she is not of my blood nor a relative, I took her in because she is my husband’s blood.”
She reportedly admitted that two months ago, she had noticed that the child’s anus was badly bruised and enlarged, and that she would always find blood in her nappies after the rapes.
The young girl’s aunt also said the toddler was forced to walk around naked and roll around on the floor satisfy her perverted uncle, with footage of the acts found on the aunt’s mobile phone, still according to VGN.
The aunt also said that her husband had threatened her as well and even once throttled her when she threatened to reveal what was going on in the house.
The suspects remain in custody and the investigation is ongoing.
