Marcos (fictitious name), 33, is one of the victims of violence mapped by GLOBO on the Crime Map, based on data from the Institute of Public Security (ISP). Surrendered by three armed men around 10:30 p.m. on a Friday in February, on Avenida Engenheiro Souza Filho, in Jacarepaguá, southwest area of Rio, he had his motorcycle taken during a violent approach. The vehicle was only two weeks old. According to the Civil Police, the theft and theft sector of the 32nd DP (Taquara) uses “intelligence and investigation methods to determine the authorship of the crime.”
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“I’m 33 years old and I still feel sick just remembering that day. It was Friday, February 28 this year, around 10:30 p.m. I had just left to pick up a friend, because she needed to buy medicine for her daughter. I stopped at Avenida Engenheiro Souza Filho, in the southwest area of Rio, thinking it would be quick. It wasn’t.
The motorcycle I was using was recently included in a consortium. I had only been with her for two weeks. I hadn’t signed up for insurance yet, so I just walked around the area where I live. I was very happy with this achievement.
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When I stopped, three men approached me. One of them put a gun to my head and said in a few words: “Either you give everything you have or you’re going to stay lying on the ground.” If you move, I’ll shoot you in the face. This sentence still hasn’t left my head today.
In desperation, I tried to run. But that didn’t help. They surrounded me, beat me. I threw the cell phone away to avoid something worse, but they managed to get the motorcycle key and drove off with it. In a matter of seconds, I had lost everything.
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When I got home, I could see using the GPS that my cell phone had a signal in Muzema, a neighboring neighborhood. I didn’t go there to look for it. There was no way. Clashes between militias and drug traffickers prevent everything. I’m a resident, I just want to live my life. I wasn’t going to risk dying from a cell phone or a motorcycle.
I’m pretty sure my bike ended up in there. If it’s still assembled, because when guys buy a new bike like this, they end up taking the whole thing apart to sell the parts. Without confidence and without perspective, I have already accepted that I will not recover.
Losing the bike had a huge impact on me. I live in Rio das Pedras and work in a computer store in Barra da Tijuca. Before, the motorcycle made everything easier. Today, I have to take four modes of transportation per day: two to go to work and two to return home. My routine has become much more tiring and burdensome.
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I feel a little bit like that when talking about that day, because it was very traumatic. Today I have no hope of getting the bike back. What I do know is that life is very unfair. Now is the time to work, work hard again and try to achieve everything again.
In an interview with journalist Anna Bustamante
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