THE LOOKOUT | The population of Arripiado returns to living in a climate of fear

Photo captured in 2020, when O MIRANTE went to the village to listen to more than two dozen residents, all victims of robberies. Four years later, the population is once again living in a climate of fear

The population of Arripiado, a village in the municipality of Chamusca, is once again living in a climate of insecurity due to constant threats from a man who has been making the lives of residents hell for several weeks.

Several complaints have already been filed with the authorities, but so far nothing has been done. The suspect is a family member of the man who was arrested in 2020 for several robberies in the locality.

For several weeks now, the approximately two hundred people who live in Arripiado, a village in the municipality of Chamusca, have been afraid, some in panic, because of an individual who threatens them daily physically and verbally. AT THE LOOKOUT, one of the residents says that the individual, in his 30s, “bothers, treats badly and threatens” all people who do not give in to his daily demands for money. The same resident, who asked not to be identified, says that several official complaints have already been filed with the authorities, but so far they have had no effect. “To date, we have not seen any element of the Republican National Guard patrolling the village. This boy needs monitoring. This story will end badly if they don’t do something,” he says, noting that it is customary for an individual to walk with the dog they are mistreating. “He usually walks from one side to the other with the dog and it is very common to see him hitting the animal”, he adds.
MIRANTE knows that the suspect has also engaged in the same behavior in Carregueira, a neighboring town, also in the municipality of Chamusca, although less frequently. “This is where he walks every day. It is sad that, four years later, we are once again living in panic because of a situation like this”, laments the resident. Remember that in 2020 the O MIRANTE report went to the village several times to give voice to its inhabitants who for several months suffered robberies at homes and commercial establishments carried out by, as our newspaper knows, a relative of the current suspect. At the time, the robber was arrested for committing several robberies at a residence and sentenced to effective imprisonment.
The photo that illustrates this text was taken in 2020, when O MIRANTE went to the village to hear the outburst of more than two dozen residents, all victims of the robberies, who gathered next to the church, in Largo do Chafariz, to show the revolt that felt about the dramatic situation they were experiencing. “Here in the village we are almost all old and we don’t have the capacity to fight this situation alone”, he explained to the reporter, while everyone else waited their turn to tell equally tormenting stories. Four years later the storm returned to Arripiado, albeit with someone else responsible. “We hope that things this time won’t take as long to resolve as last time. We want to be at peace and enjoy our village safely”, says the resident by way of venting.
At the Chamber of Chamusca meeting held on April 16, the president explained that the situation is being monitored and that the individual suffers from mental disorders, making it necessary to carry out a deeper intervention, adding that the authorities (GNR) are also aware of the situation.

An unsafe parish

The occurrence of situations of this kind in the parish of Carregueira, to which the village of Arripiado belongs, has been recurrent. Before the wave of robberies that devastated the population for months, between 2019 and 2020, O MIRANTE reported on November 13, 2018 that in Carregueira a high number of robberies and violence alarmed the population. At that time, the Carregueira Parish Assembly approved a motion expressing its concern about the high number of cases of robbery and physical and verbal attacks that were plaguing the population.
The mayors decided to request a joint meeting with the Chamber of Chamusca, the commander of the Territorial Post and the GNR Command of Santarém, in order to define a strategy to combat crime and restore a feeling of security to the entire population. “Fear, insecurity, impotence, insult and indignation are today part of the daily lives of those who were and are directly victims. Everyone, family and neighbors, knows that, if this ineffectiveness continues, they are candidates for the next victims”, read the motion.