For six years, a crime remains unsolved in the state of Pernambuco. This is the case of the girl Beatriz Angélica Mota, who was stabbed to death in 2015 while attending a graduation course at the school where she studied, in Petrolina. She was then seven years old.
Police even named suspects in the first few years after the crime, but investigations did not advance, which led the family to seek explanations on their own. Since then, family members have been on a journey to seek justice.
In the last 23 days, Beatriz’ mother, Lucinha Mota, and father, Sandro Romildo, walked about 700 km between Petrolina, in the hinterland, to Recife, to demand that the State Government speed up investigations. They denounce that the evidence that could solve the case has been altered and, therefore, they ask for the federalization of investigations. In this condition, the inquiry is now conducted by the federal instance. In addition, the family wants the state power to authorize the participation of a US group in the investigations.
“My love deserves all the efforts that Sandro and I, and the entire Franciscan society are making to guarantee her a fair inquiry”, said Lucinha Mota, mother of Beatriz.
The Governor of Pernambuco, Paulo Câmara (PSB), received Beatriz’ relatives in audience at the Campo das Princesas Palace, in the central area of Recife, on Tuesday(28). In a statement, he said that he sympathized with the family’s pain and that the Pernambuco police have been making every effort to solve the case. It also favored the federalization of investigations, if it meets the requirements of legislation. Social Defense Secretary Humberto Freire also pointed out that there are legal obstacles to authorizing an international team of investigators.
“The participation of an American company is not supported by our legislation”, he said, adding that efforts are being made “until we have enough elements to indict someone responsible and present it to the justice system.”
Also on Tuesday(28), the governor signed the dismissal of the criminal expert who was involved in the beginning of the investigations. Beatriz’ family accuses him of providing services, in parallel, to the school where the crime occurred, through a company in which he was a partner. So far, the inquiry has gone through eight delegates, has 24 volumes, 442 testimonies, seven types of expertise and 15 thousand phone calls. In a statement, the Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora school, where the crime took place, explained that the images of its internal monitoring system are already under investigation control and that the material has not been manipulated.
“To our surprise, the police chief said that the Beatriz case has 24 volumes, and we only received 21 volumes. We don’t receive videos, we don’t receive images, the results of some forensics. now,” said Sandro, Beatriz’s father.
Along the way, the family received support from parliamentarians, union members and the popular. One of these supports came from Mirtes Renata, the mother of the boy Miguel who died after falling from the fifth floor of a luxury building in Recife, after allegedly having been abandoned by his mother’s employer, Sarí Corte Real. The case is still being investigated.
“There are several signs of irregularities in this police investigation. It is riddled with irregularities. This shows and makes you lose the belief that the Civil Police of the State of Pernambuco will solve this case”, pointed out Recife councilor Dani Portela( PSOL) on the case of Miss Beatriz. Portela, like other parliamentarians, sympathized with Lucinha Mota and family members.
Edition: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
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