Anaesthetist accused of raping sedated woman during C-section ‘feared to have carried out more attacks’

Kieran Galpin

Giovanni Quintella Bezerra has been placed in solitary confinement

An anaesthetist in Brazil has been accused of raping a woman during a C-section and at least six other instances of sexual misconduct.

Giovanni Quintella Bezerra was arrested on July 10 in Rio de Janeiro after nurses became suspicious of his behaviour and alleged caught him assaulting a woman during a c-section, having done two more procedures earlier that day. Since then, three other women have come forward, reports the Mail Online.

Bezerra appeared in court on Tuesday, where a judge handed him an indefinite sentence in solitary confinement until the case’s investigation is concluded. The 32-year-old is now at Brazil’s largest prison complex Bangu, where prisoners are said to have booed and shook their cell bars when he arrived.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11008785/Brazilian-anaesthetist-investigated-raping-six-sedated-women-C-sections.html

In the original case reported by nurses, Bezerra allegedly sedated the pregnant woman until she was barely conscious. As surgeons worked to deliver the baby, it’s believed the doctor positioned himself near the woman’s head where the other medical professionals could not see.

Nurses caught the alleged 10-minuet attack on camera, having earlier set up a camera over growing suspicions. The phone was placed in a glass cabinet and allegedly captured the anaesthetist moving the woman’s head back and forth.

He was then said to have cleaned her mouth with a piece of gauze.

The unnamed nurses contacted the police and told them they’d grown suspicious of Bezerra because of his chosen quantity of sedation. They also claimed to have witnessed him becoming aroused during a procedure.

The pregnant woman was later interviewed, telling police that she thought it was a drug-induced hallucination. Detectives are now trying to determine whether the two procedures performed earlier that day also involved sexual assaults.

“He is resourceful, does not show much concern when committing the crime… There is an abuse of power,” said the investigation’s lead officer Bárbara Lomba. “Let’s avoid calling him sick.”

Sedative vials and the gauze used to clean the woman’s mouth have been collected as evidence, and now the police are building their case against him. The judge said his solitary confinement would be reviewed every 90 days.

“In a birth where the woman, in addition to being anesthetised, gave birth to her child – in one of the most important moments of her life – the custodian, using his profession, violates all the rights she had over herself,” the magistrate said on Tuesday. “The day of her son’s birth will be marked by the trauma resulting from the brutal conduct he practiced, which will be remembered on every birthday.”