More horrific details have emerged since 11 firefighters stationed in Fundão were accused of having raped a young male recruit on two occasions, on the basis that it was an ‘initiation ritual’.
Tabloid Correio da Manhã reveals that the firefighter believed to have been the one sexually attacking the 19-year-old after his first two shifts this year was expelled from Fundão fire station for similar behaviour in 2009, when he attacked a 16-year-old boy with cognitive issues.
The boy (for reasons unclear) did not make an official complaint. “Everything was dealt with internally to avoid a scandal,” says CM.
At the time, the current station chief (José Sousa) was a deputy, the paper adds. “He knew everything”.
CM’s article today explains its excoriating column earlier this week in which ‘chief reporter’ Tânia Laranjo suggested José Sousa should not continue as fire station commander. He hasn’t. After this story went up online, José Sousa, with a “heavy heart” submitted his resignation.
As for the guilt of firefighter ‘Xico da Serra’, CM has no doubts: “There are no doubts that he sodomised the latest victim. Another firefighter, a chief, by the name of Pedro Silva, held him (the victim) down. There are others that saw it, others that filmed it, others that simply laughed.”
There could be as many as 17 firefighters involved, the paper adds – admitting that José Sousa guarantees that he has supplied PJ investigators with all their names, saying “I want them to be punished”.
According to the paper, the atmosphere at the fire station that has now become the bête-noir of the firefighting fraternity is tense. “Many do not understand the passivity, the time it took to act. José Sousa is falling over himself to explain things, but he frequently contradicts himself. (For example) he guarantees that he believes the victim, but then he says there is no proof to suspend the firefighters. Even though there are CCTV images that confirm the attack, he tells CM there is no evidence’´,” says the paper.
CM says it has discovered further evidence pointing to ‘Xico da Serra’. “There are further victims – not of sexual abuse but of ‘rights-of-passage-type rituals’ which fall into the bracket of grievous bodily harm.
“In Fundão, the case continues to shock the population. There are many calling for the resignation of (José Sousa) (…) We need to clean house. This has brought shame on our area. Nothing like this should be able to happen again,” sources have told the paper.
CM will be carrying a detailed report of this case in its ‘Doa a quem Doer’ programme tonight at 9.30pm but for now, at least, the incomprehension that the commander could stay at his post – having known all along about the proclivities of one of his firefighters – has dissipated.
source: Correio da Manhã
