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image source, Getty Images
An anesthesiologist was arrested early Monday morning after being accused of raping a sedated patient during a cesarean section at the Heloneida Studart Women’s Hospital in Rio de Janeiro.
According to the Civil Police, the man was caught in flagrante delicto by the city’s Women’s Assistance Delegation, after the crime was recorded on video.
Police officers rushed to the center after health unit officials who were wary of an anesthesiologist’s posture during surgeries filmed him during a cesarean section.
The toilet was identified by the authorities as Giovanni Quintella Bezerra.
According to the news portal G1, which had access to the video of the moment of the crime, the man would have put his penis in the patient’s mouth when she was under the effects of anesthesia.
The police assured that Quintella Bezerra was accused of rape in a state of vulnerability. He faces a sentence of between 8 and 15 years in prison.
image source, RJ Civil Police
Quintella Bezerra was arrested at the same health center.
In the G1 article, Bezerra’s legal representatives assured that they would refer to the case after having access to the statements and related evidence.
The lawyer later told BBC News Brazil that he had withdrawn from the case, and BBC reporters have been unable to locate the defendant’s new representatives.
What happened?
According to the Civil Police of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Quintella Bezerra is accused of having raped a victim when she was giving birth.
In the video released by G1, the patient is unconscious in the surgery bed. A sheet, which is always used in caesarean sections, separates the upper part of the woman’s body from the lower part.
In the images you can see, on the left side of the sheet, the hospital’s surgical team performing the cesarean section.
Meanwhile, on the right side of the sheet, less than a meter away from his colleagues, a man, who is identified in the video as the anesthesiologist, positions himself close to the patient’s face.
According to the portal, the anesthesiologist would have lowered the zipper of his pants, would have withdrawn his penis and would have inserted it into the woman’s mouth.
G1 said that the act would have lasted 10 minutes. In the end, the man would have cleaned the victim with a paper towel to hide the evidence of the crime.
How was the recording made?
The video was recorded and handed over to the police by nurses from the unit.
Nurses hid a cell phone in the operating room after they became suspicious of the amounts of anesthesia the man used during operations, as well as his movements when he was around patients during procedures.
According to G1, hospital officials changed the delivery room so they could film the act in flagrante delicto.
On Sunday, the doctor had participated in other surgeries in rooms where hidden recordings would have been unfeasible.
How did the arrest happen?
According to the Civil Police, the team that carried out the arrest was deployed to confirm information that the anesthetist had sedated a patient during a cesarean section and abused her.
“Immediately, the agents went to the hospital unit and found that, given the distrust generated by the doctor, the nurses had decided to install a cell phone to record what the man did during the surgeries,” says the note released by the police. .
image source, Getty Images
In a video of the moment of the arrest obtained by G1, the doctor is surprised to receive the arrest warrant that the delegate Bárbara Lomba gives him when explaining that he has been recorded abusing the patient.
Anesthetic containers were raided and hospital officials gave statements at the police station.
It is investigated if the doctor had other criminal conduct.
Who is the doctor?
According to the State Secretary of Health of Rio de Janeiro, Giovanni Quintella Bezerra is an anesthesiologist and was providing his services as a legal person six months ago at the Heloneida Studart Women’s Hospital, and at two other hospitals in the region.
image source, Instagram
“The doctor is not a state server,” the secretariat said in a statement. He has the title of specialist in anesthesiology and a regular professional registration.
The management of the Women’s Hospital opened an internal investigation to take administrative measures and notified the Regional Council of Medicine of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
The Council issued a note confirming that it had received the complaints and assured that it immediately opened a precautionary procedure for the immediate suspension of the doctor, due to the seriousness of the case.
“An ethical-professional process is also being established, whose maximum sanction is the transfer of the professional practice of medicine,” said the organization.
In a note sent to G1, the doctor’s defense assured that he had not yet obtained full access to the statements and evidence produced during the arrest process.
“The defense also informs that, after having access to all the material, it will give statements against the accusation made against the anesthesiologist Giovanni Quintella.”
The lawyer later told BBC News Brasil on Monday that he was no longer representing Bezerra in the case.
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