The Embassy of Brazil in Portugal has requested information concerning measures taken in Portugal regarding an incident where a child lost the tips of two fingers at a school in Cinfães, Viseu district.
“Regarding the distressing attack on a nine-year-old Brazilian student at Fonte Coberta Basic School in Cinfães on November 10, the Embassy of Brazil in Lisbon and the Consulate General of Brazil in Porto are in contact with the student’s family.”
The Brazilian ambassador, Raimundo Carreiro Silva, communicated today with Portugal’s Minister of Internal Administration and the Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation, requesting updates on the measures being taken concerning the case, as well as further developments, noted the Brazilian Embassy in a statement.
The Embassy mentioned that the request followed “the distressing attack on a nine-year-old Brazilian student at Fonte Coberta Basic School in Cinfães, on November 10.”
“The Embassy of Brazil in Lisbon and the Consulate General of Brazil in Porto are in contact with the student’s family,” it further noted, highlighting that the Consulate in Porto is available to provide legal and psychological support to the family.
The Ministry of Education instructed an investigation to be opened.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Education confirmed to Lusa that the Inspectorate-General for Education and Science ordered an investigation into the incident at the request of the general director of the Directorate-General for Schools.
On Friday, Carlos Silveira, the director of the Souselo Schools Group in Cinfães, where the child had the tips of their fingers amputated on Monday, informed Lusa about the launch of an internal inquiry to “ascertain the facts.”
“Two children slammed the door on my son’s fingers,”
The situation was reported by Nivia Estevam, who introduces herself on Instagram as the “mother of the 9-year-old child who had the finger tips amputated inside the school in Portugal,” in Cinfães municipality.
“Two children slammed the door on my son’s fingers” when he went to the restroom, preventing him “from leaving and seeking help,” shared Nivia Estevam in one of the posts. She added that the boy “lost a lot of blood and had to crawl under the door with his fingers already amputated.”
The boy underwent “three hours of surgery at São João Hospital in Porto” and will suffer “physical and psychological sequelae,” she stated, appealing for legal help to cope with the current situation.
Nivia Estevam indicated that the episode, on November 10, followed previous complaints of “hair pulling, kicks, and choking,” noting “no action was taken by the school.”
The mother criticized the school for not alerting the authorities on that day, not explaining the severity of the situation (which she only realized once in the ambulance), and for the staff having cleaned “the entire incident area.”
“The school is treating this as a playful incident gone wrong,” she lamented.
Carlos Silveira declined to give further details about the incident due to the ongoing internal inquiry but assured that “emergency services were promptly called” and the school enacted appropriate procedures.
“There is no PSP in Cinfães, only GNR. When INEM [National Institute of Medical Emergency] is called, if it considers the situation severe, it will automatically contact security forces,” he explained.
15 lawyers are assisting the child’s family.
Nivia Estevam’s call for help was heard, and a group of 15 lawyers has offered to handle the case.
“We will proceed with the complaint to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and handle the administrative process, the civil responsibility of the school regarding supervision, and the civil lawsuit,” lawyer Catarina Zuccaro told Lusa.
Concerning the criminal issue, the group of 15 lawyers will assess possible actions, she added.
