Aída Curi

Aída Jacob Curi (Belo Horizonte, December 15, 1939 – Rio de Janeiro – July 14, 1958) was a Brazilian girl murdered in the Copacabana neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro.

Biography

Aída Jacob Curi was the third of five children of a couple of immigrants from Syria, Gattás Assad Curi and Jamila Jacob Curi, who belonged to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. At the age of five, Aída lost her father, which made her mother move to Rio de Janeiro and work. At the time, all of her brothers — Nelson, Roberto, Maurício and Waldir — were under ten years old, with the exception of the eldest son. Dona Jamila went with her children to Escola Moreira do Riachuelo, and remained there for eight years. At the age of six, Aída was sent to study at a school run by Spanish nuns, part of the Filhas de São José congregation,

Aída Curi was a fervently practicing Roman Catholic and her motto was to die rather than sin.

Aída's murder

On July 14, 1958, Aída was walking with a classmate on Rua Miguel Lemos after leaving the typing class at Escola Remington, when the two were approached by some boys: Ronaldo Castro, nineteen years old, Cássio Murilo, seventeen, and the doorman Antônio Sousa, 27. For thirty minutes, the young woman was beaten with great violence, in addition to the attackers trying to rape her. The victim reportedly fell unconscious due to physical exhaustion. To cover up the crime, the attackers threw the young woman from the terrace on the twelfth floor of the building, trying to simulate suicide. There were three trials. His sentence was eight years and nine months. The doorman, Antônio Sousa, also cleared of the murder charge but convicted of the others, disappeared. Nothing more was heard of him. Cássio Murilo, a minor at the time of the crime, was convicted of Aída's murder and sent to the Minor Assistance System (SAM), from where he left straight to perform military service.

The defendants

Ronaldo Guilherme de Souza Castro: born in Espírito Santo, lived and studied in Rio de Janeiro, was nineteen years old at the time of the crime. He belonged to a traditional family. He had a bad reputation in the neighborhood and at school. He was always a bad student, he got very low grades, he failed at school. He had been expelled from schools, accused of several assaults and having participated in the theft of a car belonging to the Department of Agriculture. He had also been arrested for indiscipline when he served in the Army and similar things. Ronaldo's cousin, Mariza Eneider Castro, said that the young assassin was debauched, had made her suffer several times and that, above all, he was burglar. Disregarding the family robberies, he is the author of the theft of jewelry and money from a guesthouse in Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. The crime was discovered, but his father's money silenced the police and compensated the victims. The girl said that once, in Vitória, Espírito Santo, her cousin tried to hand her over for 20 thousand cruises to a guy known as "Mãozinha". Ten thousand cruises would be for him, Ronaldo Castro, the other ten for her. He also stated that his cousin's father covered up his delinquent son's nonsense through bribes. Mariza also said that she felt guilty for not having revealed the facts sooner and that she only kept it confidential at the request of Ronaldo's parents.

Cássio Murilo Ferreira: He was the nephew of the building manager. He had already been expelled from the Ensign's Gymnasium for bad behavior, he had also been expelled from another school for trying to lift the girls' skirts and he had already broken down the door of a building next to the one he lived in to steal a scooter. The young man was a minor at the time of the crime, he was sixteen years old.

Antônio João de Sousa: he was the doorman at the Rio-Nobre Building, where the crime occurred. He was 26 years old at the time. Little has been said about his life.

Investigations

According to the medical report from the autopsy, carried out by coroner Mário Martins Rodrigues, from the Legal Medical Institute, Aída died a virgin. The sexual abuse was never consummated. On the outer wall of the terrace's parapet, experts found marks left by Aída's sandals, which scraped when she was thrown from above, proving that she had not thrown herself. The body fell close to the building. from where he left straight to perform military service. A few years later, he was accused of killing a car watchman. He fled abroad until the sentence for the murder was prescribed. Cássio would have been murdered in 1978, in an incident. There was also a third trial, in which Ronaldo was tried for simple murder and attempted rape and sentenced to six years in prison. After appealing the sentence, prosecutor Pedro Henrique Miranda managed to have the sentence increased to eight years and nine months. After serving his sentence, Ronaldo was released. He would later become a businessman in his state, Espírito Santo.

Popular culture

Aída's name is mentioned by Rita Lee in the final part of the song "Todas as Mulheres do Mundo", as well as in the song "Mônica", written by Angela Ro Ro, which deals with a similar theme. In 2004, Rede Globo's Linha Direta Justiça program presented a reconstruction of the murder of Aída Curi. The airing of this program led the victim's family to file a compensation suit against Globo, for reviving a "sinister notoriety that had haunted them for so many years [sic]". The request was denied in the lower courts and the action was judged and also denied by the Federal Supreme Court on February 11, 2021. The process, which took place for almost two decades, became known as the "Right to be Forgotten Action". The decision was nine votes against and one in favor. According to the majority's understanding, if the action were accepted, it would set precedents for a possible curtailment of the right to information and freedom of the press.

Streets named after her

Aída has some streets named after her in the state of Rio and throughout the rest of the country:

Rua Aída Curi: in Rio de Janeiro at Taquara, in Jacarepaguá.

Rua Aída Curi: in Queimados (RJ) in the Jardim Guanabara neighborhood.

Rua Aída Curi: in São Gonçalo (RJ) in the Raul Veiga neighborhood.

Rua Aída Curi: in Ipirá (BA) in the city center.