A foreign tourist was raped and robbed on a minibus on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, while her boyfriend was beaten and handcuffed on Saturday night. Two of the culprits - including the driver - have been arrested, and a third who was contacted by mobile phone, had also raped the woman. After they were dumped in the nearby city of Itaborai, they have since spoken to police, leading to two arrests, according to BBC News and Latin American Herald Tribune.
The two suspects Jonathan Foudakis de Souza, 20, and Wallce Aparecido de Souza Silva, 22, reportedly told other passengers on the minibus to get off. The couple was then driven to the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, in the nearby city of Niteroi, Latin American Herald Tribune reported. They repeatedly raped the woman while her boyfriend was handcuffed and badly beaten in the bus, while crossing the long bridge over the Guanabara Bay in Rio, news reports said. There is still a search for the third man, who also raped the woman.
The two culprits were arrested a few hours after the attack occurred, according to news reports. The tourists provided police with information about the minibus, which enabled investigators to identify the owner and find the person who rented it to use for public transportation.
The woman told police investigators that she and her boyfriend were attacked on Saturday while riding from the Copacabana district to the Lapa section. Along with the rape and beatings, they were also robbed. The Brazilian news web site Globo.com reported the assailants stole all their credit cards, which they used for shopping, also forced them to withdraw money from cash machines, BBC reported. When the female victim's credit card no longer was accepted, they reportedly went back to their apartment and stole others.
A Brazilian woman went to the same police station over the weekend, telling officers that the same suspects had abducted and raped her a week earlier on the very same bus before leaving them in Sao Gonzalo. She recognized the identities of the assailants, after seeing their photos on the Internet.
