By Lisa Flueckiger, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A cyclist taking his usual route along the Lagoa in Zona Sul (South Zone), was stabbed on Tuesday night, May 19th around 7:30 PM and later died from his injuries sustained during the attack. The assault is the latest in a series of incidents around the popular Lagoa neighborhood and affluent surroundings.
The victim, reported to be a doctor, was biking near the Fonte da Saudade (on the Cantagalo side) along the bike path surrounding the Lagoa when two teenagers attacked him and stabbed him in the stomach and arm. According to reports, the victim had not reacted to or resisted the assault, but still was injured with a knife.
The assailants took his bike and fled the scene, while the victim was brought to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries on early Wednesday morning.
The attack on the doctor has not been the only incident in the region. At the end of April a fourteen year old boy was also attacked with a knife when biking at the Lagoa near the Corte de Cantagalo. He had his bike taken by four attackers. On the same day, another person was also robbed at knife-point around the lagoon.
Another two severe cases are known from last year, where in October a student saw his lung punctured when he tried to run from seven attackers and in June a person was shot in the head when robbed.
The stabbing of the cyclist yesterday has outraged people on social media, where the story spread like wild fire. There are already several movements asking for more security around the Lagoa bike paths and the city in general. The “Pedal e corrida da paz” (pedal and run in peace) had already staged a protest in early May to bring attention to what they felt was an increase in bike robberies.