A dismembered foot and other body parts as yet unidentified were found on by a beach-goer on Wednesday. The parts are believed to belong to a young woman, according to Andre Luiz, an officer of the Military Police, reports CNN.
The reason for the death of the alleged young woman is under investigation, but it is still embarrassing to a city and country already reeling from financial problems, the Zika virus, corruption allegations involving construction companies and unfinished infrastructure and venues.
Heavily armed gangs are taking back Rio's 'pacified' slums ahead of the Olympics @GlobalPost #UPPs #favelas
— John Sullivan (@ZFTWARNING) June 18, 2016
Finding parts of a dismembered body is particularly troubling because the discovery comes amid a week-and-a-half of intense violence in Rio. At least 10 people have been killed and about 50 schools have been closed because of gun violence triggered by police searches, according to O Globo, reports ESPN.
The increased violence in the city’s slums or favelas is attributed to the deployment of 27 battalions of military police to various areas, including Rio’s downtown and its southern tourist area as the search is on for a notorious drug trafficker who escaped from a local hospital.
Nicolas Labre Pereira, nicknamed “Fat Family,” escaped from a hospital in downtown Rio de Janeiro on June 19 after 25 armed men stormed the facility where the drug trafficker was being held under police custody. The daring raid left one patient dead and a nurse and an off-duty policeman wounded, reports the Rio Times.
About 85,000 police and soldiers will be patrolling the streets during the Olympics and Paralympics, at least everyone concerned hopes this will happen. ESPN is reporting the state’s acting governor says the 2.9 billion Brazilian reals ($890 million) promised from the federal government to cover security for the Olympics has yet to be seen.
“The financial aspect is the big problem of Rio’s public safety strategy,” said Andrei Rodrigues, a top security official at the Justice Ministry. But the Rio Times is reporting that General Sergio Etchegoyen, responsible for the federal security agents at the Games, says tourists and athletes have nothing to worry about. He says the city will have an integrated security system, which will encompass three areas: security, defense, and intelligence.
