The couple suspected of keeping an elderly woman forcibly hospitalized in two psychiatric clinics without being sick had preventive detention decreed by Justice this Saturday. The suspects, identified as Patrícia de Paiva Reis and Rafael Machado — the victim’s daughter and son-in-law — were arrested this Friday. One of the psychiatric clinics where the elderly woman had been hospitalized was also banned.
According to the Civil Police, the clinic is being investigated for having been used to put into practice the qualified kidnapping planned by the couple. The agents of the 9th DP (Catete), responsible for investigating the case, arrived at the Revitalis Clinic around 11 am since Saturday. Another clinic, identified as Vista Alegre, is also the target of investigations.
According to the police, the couple wanted to disqualify the victim in order to obtain part of a pension. The thesis of financial interests is also supported by the victim himself, according to the Civil Police. Responsible for the case, delegate Felipe Santoro said that the doctors who treated the elderly woman will also have their conduct investigated.
The report that allowed the hospitalization of the victim was signed by the doctor Aline Cristina Correia. The professional claimed that the elderly woman had severe and recurrent depression, in addition to delusions. The claim, however, has not been confirmed. The doctor and the director of the clinic will also be summoned to testify.
Clínica Revitalis, which received the transfer of the victim from another clinic, stated, in a note, that “it was sought by Patrícia de Paiva Reis, who requested the hospitalization of her 65-year-old mother, with a ‘history of depression with episodes of confusion mental’. In five days at the clinic, with a multidisciplinary approach by the team, it was found that the patient no longer had an indication for hospitalization”. According to the clinic, the patient also showed no resistance or refusal to be under treatment.
Before kidnapping her mother in the South Zone of Rio and forcibly admitting her to a psychiatric clinic in the mountainous region of the state, Patrícia de Paiva Reis called the Mobile Emergency Care Service (Samu). At the family’s apartment, in Catete, the doctors found that the elderly woman did not present disorders or aggressiveness, but referred to her daughter with fear and withdrawal, appearing to fear her. In a report that appears in the investigation that culminated in the arrest of the woman, the professionals also narrate that, according to neighbors, she threatens the victim “often”.
The document, obtained exclusively by Globo, claims that the elderly woman “presented a cohesive, linear and coherent speech” and reported on the “troubled relationship” with her daughter. At the time, she agreed to be seen and examined, “showing stable vital signs and no change in the physical examination, saying there was a previous history of migraine”.
The report also points out that the medical team witnessed the interaction between the pensioner, Patrícia; her son-in-law, Raphael Machado Costa Neves, who was also arrested for the kidnapping; and his two grandsons, aged 2 and 9.
“The patient presented affectionate behavior with the grandchildren, however, when talking to Mrs. Patrícia, who informed that she would restrict the entry of a friend of the patient. The patient was reluctant about the decision, but Mrs. Patrícia said that the apartment was hers and that she would do whatever she wanted. From that moment on, a discussion began about material goods, and Samu assistance was no longer necessary, as a family conflict was noted”, wrote the doctors.
Last Thursday afternoon, agents from the 9th DP, after discovering the whereabouts of the elderly woman, were at the clinic and released her. To the delegate, she said that she had written several letters during her hospital stay to “vent her sadness and her fear” for being there without her consent or medical need. Patrícia and Raphael were arrested in flagrante delicto and indicted for the crimes of triple qualified kidnapping and coercion in the course of the process. They didn’t want to testify.
— We started the steps as soon as we received the information that a lucid elderly woman, without any physical or mental illness, was being kept in deprivation of liberty in a clinic. After the arrest of the family members who had determined the hospitalization, we will investigate the conduct of doctors, nurses and other employees of these establishments in order to understand the responsibility of each one in these crimes – explained the delegate Felipe Santoro.
Investigations point out that when approached by two men, in the early afternoon of February 6, the elderly woman believed it was a “bank outing” or a lightning kidnapping, but soon realized that the violence was happening at the behest of her daughter, since one of the criminals said that “it was a family thing”.
Inside the ambulance, the pensioner said that she had cried all the way to Petrópolis and, upon arriving at the clinic, had her purse and cell phone removed by the employees, and she was placed in a room without a window or ventilation for three days. At the scene, she said she suffered from hunger and thirst and screamed several times for help. Afterwards, the elderly woman reported having been taken to a collective space, where she was forced to take medication.
In testimony, the victim also said that he questioned the doctors for his discharge, but he passed by her and did not answer her. During Carnival, she said she received a visit from her daughter and her partner. The couple would have told the elderly woman that they would try to disqualify the registration made by her in the DCAV, demonstrating that she suffered from “mental imbalance”.
