RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The photo of an “evil doll” protecting a street in the Afogados neighborhood of Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state, recently went viral on social networks. To deter criminals and reduce the number of robberies, residents placed the doll on a chair in the middle of Albatroz Street.
“Since there is little security in the neighborhood, we came up with the idea of doing something to deter the criminals who hang around the community. And it works. Some criminals came by, and when they saw the doll, they turned around,” said Barbara Regina, one of the people responsible for the “evil doll.”
According to Janssen Alves, Barbara’s husband, the ploy even attracted the attention of people from other parts of the city: “People are afraid of the doll and ask us to bring it to other parts of the city. I put the doll to scare away robbers, gossips, bad guys and people who lie.”
She says that despite the joking tone, the point was to criticize the lack of policing in the area. She says she was afraid to leave the doll on the street because of the risk of being stolen.