Warning: This article contains content some readers may find distressing
A Brazilian woman who was arrested earlier this month for wheeling her deceased uncle into a bank to sign off a loan could be changed for his death.
Earlier this month, in a harrowing case that shook the globe, Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes was apprehended by staff working on the site after witnesses captured her manoeuvring the dead body of her 68-year-old uncle.
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Footage of the moment that 42-year-old Érika wheeled the deceased remains into the Rio de Janeiro bank subsequently went viral online, sparking sheer outrage on social media.
According to local reports, the woman had attempted to move her uncle's hands to sign off on a loan for 17,000 reais (£2,600).
In the chilling video, Érika could also be seen attempting to keep her uncle's head straight whilst she 'assisted' him with the document.
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She also continued chatting with the body, seemingly in order to create the impression that he was still alive.
However, staff had begun growing suspicious, with one clerk telling her in the clip: "I don’t think he’s well. He doesn’t look well at all."
Whilst other members of staff began to question and film her, Érika could be heard asking the body: "Uncle are you listening."
Attempting to place the pen between his fingers, she was seen instructing him: "Sign here and stop giving me a headache."
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After another staff member noted: "I don’t think this is legal. He doesn’t look well. He’s very pale," to which Érika hit back: "He's like that."
She went on to tell the body: "If you’re not well, I can take you to hospital. Do you want to go back to the hospital again?"
Investigating officers who responded to alerts made by staff later determined that the man - identified as Paulo Braga - had actually passed away, and on top of this, he'd been dead for at least two hours.
After the woman was arrested on the scene, lead officer Fábio Luiz Souza later told press: "She knew this fact (of death), as he is (in the video) with his head down and without any movement, however, right before entering, she holds him by the neck so that he has his head up, simulating a person alive."
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He went on: "There is no doubt that Érika knew about Paulo's death, but, as it was her last chance to withdraw the money from the loan, she entered the bank with the corpse, simulated for several minutes that he was alive, even pretending to give water, took the pen and held his hand close to the hand of Paulo's corpse.
"However, as the bank employees did not disperse their attention, he was unable to sign."
And now, in a newly-released update, it has been revealed that the mother-of-six has since been held in pretrial detention and is potentially facing charges of vilifying a corpse and attempting theft through fraud.
Érika - whose son has also spoken out about his mother's previous mental health battles and suicide attempt - is also being investigated for charges of manslaughter, whilst police attempt to assess whether or not she played a part in his death.
Featured Image Credit: X/@realengotvTopics: Crime, True Crime, World News, News