Four-months pregnant woman, co-passenger tied up and burned alive in car, married lover among those arrested
In a “very cruel” case of double murder, a mother-to-be and her co-passenger were tied up and set ablaze alive in a car, police said. The victims have been identified as Ellen Priscila Ferreira da Silva, 24, who was four months pregnant, and 39-year-old Ely Carlos dos Santos. Their burned bodies were discovered after the tragic incident on October 17 near Sao Paulo, Brazil. Police reportedly got the identifications of Da Silva and dos Santos after their families recognized the vehicle, which was of the young woman’s mother. Reports stated that a number of people have been arrested in connection to the gruesome crime including the 24-year-old victim's married lover, who impregnated her. Investigator Paulo de Tarso said as reported by Newsweek that two other men, 35 and 19-year-olds, along with a woman, 36, have also been taken into custody. "It was a premeditated and very cruel crime. One of the suspects even personally comforted the victim's mother after her death was confirmed,” De tarso told the local media.
The 19-year-old suspect and the woman have admitted to the crime, police said, but others have refused to confess. "The victim was four months pregnant by one of the suspects, who is married. His wife, who confessed, and who is also pregnant, knew,” De tarso said. Though the reason behind the double murder has not been clear yet, police have launched the investigation keeping in mind three possible motives - revenge, a crime of passion, and drug debt. “Ellen and Ely Carlos may have been in debt to a drug dealer who was also arrested. Another point is that Ellen refused to abort the child conceived in the extramarital relationship,” De tarso stated.
As reported by Australian news channel 7 News, the 38-year-old man, who was the father of Da Silva’s unborn child, initially said to the police that he himself was a victim. He told them that he was also attacked on October 17, but he managed to escape after he pretended to lose consciousness. But eventually, he admitted to cooking up a fake story and self-inflicting his wounds under the influence of drugs. Investigators are also probing if more people are involved in the double murder. De tarso added: "There is a fifth suspect of involvement, a teenager who has already been identified. He had the same role as the 19-year-old, that is, throwing gasoline on the victims.”
In another incident that happened in the Indian city of Hyderabad, a 26-year-old woman was raped and then burned alive by her attackers. The alleged incident happened on November 27, 2019, when the woman, a veterinarian living in Shamshabad, left her home in the evening to visit a skin clinic in Gachibowli, about 16 miles away from her place. However, while returning, she found her scooter had a flat tire near a toll plaza. The victim reportedly called her sister at around 9:30 in the night as she was concerned about her safety after the flat tire and a stranger had insisted on helping her. In a recording of the call to her sister, the woman was heard saying, “Please keep talking until my scooter comes back. They [the strangers] are all waiting outside. You please keep talking to me, I am scared." But later she hung up, promising to call her. After multiple attempts to reach her via phone, the victim’s family informed police, who next morning found the burned body of her. Evidence found at the scene reportedly suggested that the woman was first sexually assaulted before she was killed. Later media reports stated that all four suspects, including a truck driver and a cleaner, arrested in connection to the case were killed in a police encounter on December 6, 2019.