A wanted poster for the suspect distributed online by the Brazilian police. /Courtesy of the official account of the Rio de Janeiro police for posting wanted persons on X (formerly Twitter).

A Chinese national man suspected of murdering a teenage woman in Brazil was captured by authorities after fleeing. The fact that the body was found abandoned and partially disfigured by dogs has caused widespread shock and anger locally.

The Rio de Janeiro police announced on the 16th (local time) that they arrested a Chinese national man, the suspect in the murder of an 18-year-old woman, in a joint operation with the São Paulo state police. They stated, "The suspect's New Recruit was secured today in the Carapicuíba area of São Paulo."

The case was revealed when the victim's family and acquaintances discovered clues while tracking closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to find the missing 18-year-old woman. According to local media, including G1, the victim was seen riding a bicycle and a man presumed to be the suspect was confirmed loading a blue tarp onto a cart.

On the 14th, police discovered the body of a woman wrapped in a tarp and left abandoned inside a construction dwelling in northern Rio. It was reported that there were traces of a fierce dog having disfigured parts of the body.

The owner of the dwelling was confirmed to be a Chinese national man, and police quickly distributed wanted posters and tracked his escape route to apprehend him. The suspect is known to have sold yakisoba (Chinese-style fried noodles) near Rio and reportedly often held parties with alcohol and drugs, calling in young people.

This incident has been covered extensively as major news by Brazil's leading media, CNN Brazil, and G1. In particular, the revelation that the victim's body was left abandoned and disfigured by dogs has caused significant shock within the local community.

G1 noted, "This incident has raised significant waves among the local residents, proving that there is a need to strengthen public policies to eradicate violent crimes against women."

Meanwhile, according to the annual report of the Brazil Public Safety Forum (FBSP), a non-governmental organization (NGO) monitoring Brazil's security situation, as of 2023, gender-based crimes have worsened compared to the previous year, with the following increases: homicides of women up 0.8%, domestic violence up 9.8%, stalking up 34.5%, and sexual harassment up 48.7%.