Brazilian Boy Tortured With Needles To
Undergo Surgery
RIO DE JANEIRO - The Brazilian boy tortured
with needles stuck by his stepfather will
undergo a delicate surgery to remove two of
them from his heart, local daily Globo
reported on Thursday.
According to the boy's doctor, pediatric
surgeon Fabio Contelle, the two needles are
currently located in the left ventricle of
his heart, which may cause him to experience
some arrhythmia during the surgery.
The two-year-old boy was taken to hospital
by his mother last Sunday, complaining of
abdominal pain. X-ray showed there were at
least 30 sewing needles inside his body,
including chest, abdomen, neck and legs. Due
to the position of the needles, the toddler
could not have swallowed them, according to
doctors.
Police started to suspect the boy's
stepfather, 33-year-old Roberto Carlos
Magalhaes Lopes, because he disappeared just
after the child was admitted to the
hospital.
After being arrested on Wednesday, Lopes
confessed to the crime, saying that needle
inserting was part of a religious ritual and
accused two women, his mistress and the
owner of a religious center, of being his
accomplices in the crime. The two women were
then arrested, but they denied any
participation.
The boy was transferred earlier in the day
from a small hospital in the town of
Barreira, in northeastern Bahia state, to a
larger facility in the state's capital city
Salvador.
Other needles were found in the boy's lung,
kidney, spine and intestines. Doctors are
still evaluating the removalof those
presenting danger to the boy, while those
which do not present any risk will be left
where they are, as the procedures to remove
them would be more invasive than their
presence.
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