A young man, residing in the municipality, faces charges of two counts of aggravated rape following incidents that allegedly occurred at dawn after a local village festival in Soure in the summer of 2024, according to the indictment from the Public Prosecutor’s Office accessed by the agency Lusa.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) notes that the victim, then 16 years old, was on holiday in Portugal with her family and attended the village festival with relatives.
During the event, the young woman met the 28-year-old defendant, who attempted to make physical advances towards her, “touching her shoulder, arm, and hip.”
In the early hours, the victim left the festival with family members but returned alone to the venue to search for her lost mobile phone, as stated by the MP.
At that time, the defendant, seizing the opportunity that she was alone, allegedly grabbed her and raped her near the festival grounds.
Minutes later, the 28-year-old allegedly released the victim only to pursue her again moments later and allegedly rape her a second time, ignoring her pleas to stop, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Subsequently, the victim managed to reach a relative’s home.
The defendant, currently only subject to identity and residence conditions, is being tried behind closed doors at the Coimbra Court on Monday morning.
