An angry mob stormed a police station in Brazil and burned a man alive after he was arrested on suspicion of raping and murdering a one-year-old girl.
Gregorio da Silva, 48, is said to have confessed to the murder of the child, identified as Laylla de Assis, and dumped her body in a river in Jutaí, a city in the northern state of Amazonas, last Wednesday.
Da Silva turned himself in to police on Thursday after being identified by detectives on surveillance cameras and taken to the police station, where local residents gathered to demand justice.
Dozens of people stormed the police station, throwing Molotov cocktails, setting off fireworks and throwing bottles, Amazonas military police said.
Gregorio da Silva was killed by an angry mob in Jutaí, Brazil, on Thursday after he reportedly confessed to raping and killing one-year-old Laylla de Assis. The 48-year-old pulled the toddler from a floating boat where her mother had put her to sleep on Wednesday night. He told police he had sexually abused her before dumping her body in the river. Her body has not yet been found.
One-year-old Laylla de Assis was reportedly raped and murdered after she was taken from a boat where she was sleeping on Wednesday night in Jutaí, a city in Brazil’s northern state of Amazonas
Residents surround an ambulance at the police station which was stormed by an angry mob on Thursday and dragged out Gregorio da Silva, who reportedly confessed to the rape and murder of one-year-old Laylla de Assis, and set his body on fire
Once inside, they were able to overpower the officers and drag da Silva to the middle of the street.
Disturbing footage showed people surrounding Da Silva and pelting him with stones and other objects, which was streamed live on social media.
Da Silva lay motionless on the ground when a man walked up to him and set him on fire as the crowd cheered him on.
A resident then threw a large piece of wood on Da Silva’s burning body.
A resident approaches the body of Gregorio da Silva and sets it on fire after the 48-year-old was dragged from a police station in Amazonas, Brazil, moments after he allegedly confessed to the rape and murder of one-year-old Layla Vitória
Police in Jutaí, a city in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, have still not found the body of Layla Vitória, the one-year-old girl who was raped and murdered before her body was thrown into a river last Wednesday.
Residents of Jutaí stand by the burning body of Gregorio da Silva, who was set alight by an angry mob last Thursday night
Other images show Da Silva’s body covered with wooden pallets as residents shout at him.
Another video showed an ambulance arriving at the scene as the fire raged in the background.
Amazonas police said De Assis was put to sleep by her mother on a floating boat in Jutaí on Wednesday night and noticed the toddler was gone.
Da Silva, an ice cream vendor, was reportedly pressured into turning himself in. He confessed to sexually abusing and murdering De Assis.
A video shows the distraught mother sitting on the ground after hearing that her daughter has died.
“Why didn’t you do this to me, Lord?” she said. “I deserve it.”
As of Monday, authorities had not yet found De Assis’s body and no arrests had been made.
