Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor:  Lee Bullen, Agency: Newsflash

These are the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of a woman beaten by her ex, who then stalked her on her building’s CCTV cameras that he had linked to his mobile phone.

Dayane Viola, 35, was beaten by her 31-year-old ex-boyfriend, Vanderson Lopes, at the end of last month in the apartment they shared in the city of Belo Horizonte, in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

The architect told local media: “I’m in a panic. I wake up every day with the nightmare that he’s on top of me, suffocating me. I feel pain in my throat 24 hours a day. I wake up scared, I’m unable to be alone, and I’m completely unstable.”

The pair’s relationship had been rocky and Viola had wanted to break up with Lopes.

On the day of the attack, Lopes had reportedly mixed alcohol and medicine. Viola told local media: “I threw the drink away and I went to grab the glass he had. Then he lost it.

“He beat me so much that I fainted at one point, and he kept on beating me and saying ‘You’re still not dead, you’re still not dead, I’ll continue beating you because you’ll feel it’.

“Then he woke me up. I was half passed out, half unconscious. When he saw that I was opening my eyes he punched me in the face or wherever he found a place.”

The police were called and the couple gave statements.

Lopes was kept in custody but was later released the next day following a hearing before a judge.

Viola has revealed that following the attack, Lopes had been watching her every day through the apartment block’s security cameras, as he is the building’s manager.

She said: “He has the cameras on his mobile phone. He keeps on watching me, yes, because the workers have told me. Because he asks his employee, he asks the janitor, who tells me.”

A restraining order has been taken out on Lopes, and he is now only permitted to get in touch with his ex through a lawyer.

Despite this, Viola filed a police report on 3rd November, alleging that Lopes did not comply with the order.

According to Viola, Lopes, who had moved to another place, showed up at their former apartment.

She called the police, but he left before they arrived. Viola has since moved out of the apartment, citing concerns for her safety.

Viola has been left traumatised by the attack and is taking medication and undergoing treatment. She still has physical marks left by the attack and finds it hard to speak as her vocal cords were injured from when she was throttled.

She said: “I feel very unprotected because he’s on the loose, doing whatever he wants. He’s been in restaurants, walking about and living his life, and I’m in the one in imprisonment.”

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