Brazilian couple is attacked by a group of punches and kicks in Portugal: “We are very shocked”
Photo: reproduction/personal archive
A Brazilian couple left beaten by a group of about 10 young Portuguese men as they left a pagoda in Cais de Gaia in the Porto district of Portugal. For the EarthCultural producer Bruno Marcelino, 31, recounted the terrifying moments he spent with his friend Kaique dos Santos, 23, and believes the crime was motivated by xenophobia, homophobia and racism.
The case occurred in the early hours of Saturday 30. According to Bruno, the two left the group towards the bridge that leads to the city of Porto, but before reaching their destination they were approached by the group.
“We were holding hands, my partner and I, and we saw a group of young people playing, fooling around and so on. But we didn't care because we were on our way to the bridge. And then as we passed them, one of them asked us if we could give them 10 euros. I said no, but after I answered I got a slap in the face,” recalls Bruno.
As soon as the attacks began, Kaique, Bruno's friend, shouted “Run.” “He started running, I tried to run so I could get away from them. And then they all ran towards us. I was wearing a big jacket, they grabbed me by the hole, pulled me back and hit me in the face several times and I fell,” he says.
“As I fell, they started kicking me and hitting me in the head. When my friend saw this, he came back to help me, but he couldn't reach me because another group of young people also started hitting him on the head,” Bruno said.
Still, according to Marcelino, the attacks only stopped when a member of the group wearing a red jacket asked them to stop. As soon as the beating stopped, he told the couple to run, and they did.
“We walked about two blocks away from them to get some rest and call the police, ambulance and everything else. They thought we were gone, but we hid,” he said. “As we were leaving, a group ran after us until they gave up.”
Amid the stampede, a Portuguese resident who had been watching the scene from a balcony offered to help. Together they called the police more than three times.
According to the victims, the Portuguese police doubted the Brazilians
When the Portuguese police arrived, it took the agents a long time to approach the attackers and some of them had already left.
“As they approached us, the other part of the group ran away and the police officer asked, 'Who are they?' Are they still here?'. I said, “Yes, those were the ones who were sitting there and now they were running away.” Then they said, “But we need to know who they are. Can you describe who these people are?” recalls Bruno.
The police managed to arrest around four people from the group, including a woman. “The police became aggressive towards my partner because he was upset and told them to chase these people,” he said.
After reporting to agents, the couple's details were obtained, but it is not certain whether they were arrested or what happened to the attackers. After that, no documents were delivered and no contact was made.
The two were rescued and have superficial injuries to their faces, eyes and mouth. However, both say they are psychologically shaken and are looking for another European country with more security.
“We are very shocked. I don't want to live here anymore, I'm afraid. We were happy that we found a cool place to have fun, we held hands and were very happy. And something like that happens? Total uncertainty,” said Bruno. “We will not allow this, we will search for the recordings on site and do everything in our power to ensure that they do not cause any more harm to anyone, especially for reasons of hate.”
O Earth The Portuguese authorities have not yet been able to locate him.
Source: Redação Terra