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Arrest in Brazil needle boy case | Arrest in Brazil needle boy case |
(about 5 hours later) | |
A Brazilian toddler has been found with some 40 needles inside him, which police say his stepfather inserted during a possible "black magic" ritual. | A Brazilian toddler has been found with some 40 needles inside him, which police say his stepfather inserted during a possible "black magic" ritual. |
Police said Roberto Carlos Magalhaes has confessed to sticking the sewing needles into the two-year-old boy, who is in intensive care at a hospital. | Police said Roberto Carlos Magalhaes has confessed to sticking the sewing needles into the two-year-old boy, who is in intensive care at a hospital. |
Mr Magalhaes said his mistress had told him to ritually kill the child to take revenge on his wife. | |
Doctors are set to begin operating on Thursday to remove some of the needles. | Doctors are set to begin operating on Thursday to remove some of the needles. |
The toddler was taken to hospital in the north-eastern Bahia state by his mother, complaining of stomach pains and vomiting. | The toddler was taken to hospital in the north-eastern Bahia state by his mother, complaining of stomach pains and vomiting. |
X-rays showed scores of sewing needles inside his neck, torso and legs. At least one had punctured a lung, another his liver. | X-rays showed scores of sewing needles inside his neck, torso and legs. At least one had punctured a lung, another his liver. |
'Revenge attack' | 'Revenge attack' |
Police said Mr Magalhaes had broken down and confessed after being arrested. | |
"He did that for revenge, to get back at his wife," the police chief in the town of Ibotirama, Helder Fernandes Santana, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency. | |
"His mistress told him to kill the child through a macabre ritual," Mr Santana said. | "His mistress told him to kill the child through a macabre ritual," Mr Santana said. |
The boy's mother told police she suspected the child had been the victim of a black magic ritual after she found suspicious objects in the home she shared with Mr Magalhaes - her husband of six months - and her six children. | |
Doctors said most of the needles would be removed, but not the ones inside organs as their removal could cause more damage. | |
They said there were no signs of wounds on the boy. | They said there were no signs of wounds on the boy. |
Reports say the boy is in a serious condition, but that he has shown some improvement since being admitted to hospital on Sunday. |