Brazilian Model Accuses Senator of Rape in São Paulo Hotel

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A 22-year-old model is accusing Tocantins Senator Irajá Silvestre Filho (PSD- Social Democratic Party), 37, of raping her in an apartment on the West Side of São Paulo between Sunday night, November 22nd, and the early hours of Monday morning, November 23rd. The legislator, son of Tocantins Senator Kátia Abreu (PP -Progressives), denies the charges.

The young woman from Paraná state told the police that she met Irajá at a restaurant at the Jockey Club in São Paulo capital and, early in the evening, joined him at Cafe de La Musique bar in Jardim Europa neighborhood. According to the model, they both had drinks, she lost consciousness later on and woke up in an apartment suite at Itaim Bibi. The young woman told the police that when she regained consciousness, the senator was on top of her and penetrating her, saying “you are mine”, “now you are mine, I am in love”.

The model reported that, fearing for her safety, she neither resisted nor tried to pull him off her, but “insistently” asked him to let her use the bathroom and drink water. When she managed to go to the bathroom, she said she locked herself in and texted her friends for help. When a friend of hers arrived, she said, she came out of the bathroom, attacked the senator with kicks and punches and left the room to call the State Police. The police officers headed to the room, but could not find Irajá.

During her testimony to the Civil Police, the young woman recognized the senator in a photo presented to her. The room was closed off for forensics, and the model was referred for physical and toxicological examinations. According to the occurrence report, the police were in the apartment, “where they found no unusual evidence of attacks or fights”.

Inner-circuit cameras in the lobby and elevators will be examined in the investigations.

Senator denies accusation

In a note, the senator states that he was “surprised, disappointed, sad and outraged” by the accusation and classifies it as “a despicable, evil and treacherous event”.

“I have always guided my professional, public and personal life by ethics, respect and righteousness, and it is unimaginable to be accused of something of this nature. The fact is that, as the main interested party in the wide and full disclosure of all this farce, I asked my attorney, Daniel Bialski, to urge the authorities in charge of investigating the case to request that the accuser be examined to prove the truth,” says the text.

Irajá claims to have spontaneously attended the police station and asked to be submitted to a physical and toxicological examination. “The footage, other evidence and witnesses will restore the truth to its rightful place and eventually establish my full and complete innocence. I trust the police and the courts and I know that it will be proven that there has never been anything that can tangibly imply any inappropriate behavior on my part,” he says.

“I’m very sorry to have been involved in this slanderous and defamatory plot aimed at tarnishing my name because of the momentary visibility of my position. I reiterate that I will await the conclusion of investigations before making any new demonstration. I do not intend to be hurled into this sordid arena. The truth will emerge and I will await it with serenity. I declare and reiterate that I have not committed any illicit act and I am at the disposal of the authorities for any clarification that may be required,” Irajá adds.

Attorney Daniel Bialski also disclosed a note in which he states that the senator “has never committed such an act” and that the defense has already requested footage of the nightclub, the route traveled and the apartment.

Political career

Irajá was born in Goiânia, but made his political carteer in the state of Tocantins, where he served two terms as a federal deputy between 2011 and 2018, when he was elected to the Senate and became the youngest senator in the country’s history to take office – he was 35 years old, the minimum age required for the position. Before joining PSD, he was affiliated to the former PFL (Liberal Front Party) and then to its successor DEM (Democrats) between 2003 and 2011.

A large part of his legislative projects are related to agribusiness, the same field his mother, Senator Kátia Abreu, works in. Among the proposals presented are initiatives to enable land regularization that does not respect the minimum legal reserve limits (as long as they make double compensation elsewhere), to exempt IPI (Tax on Industrial Products) on rural producers’ trucks, and to require that workers benefited by rural settlements have their residence in the same city.

In his most controversial votes, he was against the impeachment of then-President Dilma Rousseff (PT – Workers’ Party), against the acceptance of a complaint involving President Michel Temer (MDB – Brazilian Democratic Movement) and in favor of the labor reform and of the PEC (Proposed Constitutional Amendment) imposing the spending cap.

Source: Veja