The undersecretary of Social Development and Human Rights of the Rio de Janeiro government, José Carlos Simonin, will be dismissed this Tuesday (3). He is the father of Vitor Simonin, one of those involved in the gang rape against a young girl 17 years old in Copacabana last month. 
According to the Secretariat, the measure was adopted at the administrative level, aiming to protect institutional integrity and ensure the responsible handling of the reported facts. “The Ministry reaffirms its commitment to human dignity and the preservation of life”, it said in a statement.
Vitor is on the run, as is another member of the group, Bruno Felipe dos Santos Allegretti. Two others involved, Matheus Veríssimo Zoel Martins and João Gabriel Xavier Bertho, have already handed themselves over to the police.
According to investigations, in January this year, the victim was invited by a student at his school to go to a friend’s house. When they arrived at the building, the teenager insinuated that they would do “something different”, which was immediately rejected by the young woman.
Inside the apartment, the victim was taken to a room, where she was locked with four men who insisted that she maintain relations with them. When she refused, they began to undress and carry out libidinous acts through physical and psychological violence against her.
The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro confirmed that it is investigating two more cases of rape committed against teenage students at Colégio Federal Pedro II and committed by members of the same group.
