An 11-year-old student was raped with a “broom” by eight classmates at a school in Braganca.

Eight classmates aged between 13 and 16 raped an 11-year-old student at a school in Vimioso, Bragança district, which was reported to the judicial police and the prosecutor’s office.

The victim’s brother, 16 years old, participated in the attacks on the minor.

In a statement sent to Lusa, the Vimioso parish council, chaired by José Manuel Alves Ventura, denounces the “climate of terror and cover-up” that allegedly exists in the Vimioso school group, reporting several cases of violence between and among students. and staff, and aware that on Friday, January 19, a “disgusting episode of sodomy” occurred.

Several sources Lusa spoke to confirm that the sodomy episode took place around 12:30 p.m. inside the school, “with the use of a broom” and in the presence of at least one staff member, who “did nothing” to stop the alleged assailants. also appears in the exhibition of the Vimioso Parish Council, which was also sent to the Regional Directorate of Education of the North (DREN).

Two of the attackers are 16 years old and already face criminal charges, while the others are between 13 and 15 years old, according to these police and local sources, adding that a week later, both the alleged assailants and the victim continue to frequent the same establishment.

The alleged sexual assault occurred on Friday, but it was not until three days later, on Monday, January 22, that the GNR was informed of the incident and it was only on that day that the student was taken to the Vimioso Health Center and then to the Bragança Hospital “with scratches and complaints.”

Judicial police inspectors were at the scene on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the victim was taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Porto for examination.

An official source at the GNR told Lusa today that he was contacted by representatives of the Vimioso Medical Center on Monday to report the incident, adding that, taking into account the type of crimes in question, he reported the facts to the judicial police.

In a response sent to Lusa today, the Ministry of Education (ME) says the Vimioso School Group noted “two situations” without specifying which ones.

“This immediately resulted in, and after the incident became known, the institution of 10 disciplinary proceedings against students who were allegedly involved in the case of the student who was subject to the alleged aggression. The case is under the jurisdiction of the prosecutor’s office and deserves the intervention of the judicial police,” says the ME.

Also in the response sent to Luse, the President of the Commission for the Protection of Young Children (CPCJ), Vimioso, confirms the episode of sodomization, stressing that he was also informed of the situation only at 16:35 on Monday.

“Realizing that the reported situation, if true, was very serious, I immediately contacted the school band director and the child’s mother, who, with some feelings of indignation, described to me everything that her 11-year-old son had conveyed to him as soon as he returned home from school around 18:00. [de sexta-feira]”, explains António Santos.

CPCJ Chairman Vimioso, who is also vice-president of the Vimioso Chamber, says he “pressured the child’s mother” to go to the medical center to “evaluate any injury.”

“About 19:30. [de segunda-feira] the doctor on duty requested the presence of the GNR and sent the child to the Bragança Hospital, where he underwent some examinations,” says António Santos.

This official states that that evening he called an “emergency meeting of the PCWC restricted committee” for the next morning.

“As a result of this meeting, a message was sent to the prosecutor’s office of the General Court of Miranda do Douro, as well as our version of the facts to the authorities responsible for the ongoing investigation,” reports António Santos.

CPCJ Chairman Vimioso also noted that “given that there are nine minor children here” (aggressors and victims), separate meetings are scheduled for Tuesday with the victim’s mother and parents of the students involved in the alleged attack.

“To collect authorizations to assess the risk situation and therefore open the consent process to obtain all the information necessary to assess the risk and whether there will be reasons to take promotion and protection measures,” explains António Santos.

Lusa has asked questions to the Vimioso school group, but has not yet received answers and has tried several times to contact the director, Anna Paula Falcao, but she has not yet answered her calls either.