Brazilian couple attacked with punches and kicks by group in Portugal: 'We are very shaken'

A Brazilian couple went He was beaten by a group of about 10 Portuguese youths When they left a temple in Caes de Gaia, in the Porto region, in Portugal. to LandCultural producer Bruno Marcelino, 31, spoke of the terrifying moments he spent with his friend Kaiqui dos Santos, 23, and believes the crime was motivated by xenophobia, homophobia and racism.

This case occurred in the early hours of Saturday, the 30th of this month, and according to Bruno, the two left the party towards the bridge leading to the city of Porto, but before they reached their destination, the group approached them.

“We were holding hands, me and my partner, and we saw a group of young people playing and messing around and stuff. But we didn't even care because we were heading towards the bridge. And then, when we passed them, one of them asked us if we had 10 euros to give them.” I said no, but After I answered, I got punched in the face,” Bruno recalls.

As soon as the attacks began, Bruno's friend Kaikeyi screamed to run away. “He started running, and I tried to run so I could get away from them. Then, they all started running towards us. I was wearing a big jacket, so they grabbed me from the hole and pulled me back and punched me several times in the face and I fell.”

“When I fell, they started kicking me and punching me in the head. When my friend saw that, he came back to try to help me, but he couldn’t reach me, because another group of guys started punching him in the head as well,” Bruno said.

However, according to Marcelino, the attacks only stopped when one of the group members, who was wearing a red jacket, asked them to stop. Once the punches stopped, he asked the couple to run, and they did.

“We went about two blocks away from them to rest a bit and call the police and the ambulance and everything else. They thought we were gone, but we were hiding.” “When we left, a group kept running after us until they gave up.”

Amid the rush, a Portuguese resident, who watched the scene from a balcony, offered to help. Together they called the police more than three times.

Portuguese police suspected the presence of Brazilians, according to the victims

When the Portuguese police arrived, the agents took a long time to approach the attackers and some of them had already left.

When 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, these are the ones who were sitting and running away now. Then they said, “But, we have to know who they are. Can you describe these people?” Bruno recalls.

Among the group, the police were able to arrest about four people, including a woman. “The police started to act aggressively towards my partner because he was excited and asked them to go after these people,” he said.

After informing agents, the couple's details were obtained, but they are not sure if they were arrested or what happened to the attackers. No documents were handed over or any contact was made after that.

They were rescued with superficial injuries to their faces, eyes and mouth. However, they both report being traumatized and want to look for another, safer European country.

“We are very shaken. I myself do not want to live here anymore, there is fear. We were happy because we found a great place to have a good time, we were holding hands and very happy. And something like this happens? Total insecurity,” Bruno said. He added: “We will not let this go unnoticed, we will search for recordings at the scene and we will use all our powers to ensure no further harm is caused to anyone, especially for hate reasons.”

Hey Land The Portuguese authorities have not been able to determine his whereabouts yet.

Source: Redacao Terra