Eritrean ‘Refugee’ Arrested for Brutal Rape of Homeless Pensioner

An Eritrean housed in a Portuguese “refugee” facility has been detained for the brutal rape and beating of a homeless pensioner on Thursday.

The Eritrean migrant, who arrived in Portugal at the end of October, left the victim naked and with multiple fractures. Footage taken by local media shows blood splattered all over the floor and walls at the scene of the horrific attack.

Ibrahim Salem approached the 67-year-old homeless woman, who was sheltering from the cold in the doorway of a bank in downtown Albufeira, at 4.50 on Thursday morning.

The Judicial Police reported that “through the use of physical force”, and “in the face of the victim’s resistance” he beat her, “causing maxillofacial and nasal fractures”.

Salem was among a group of 15 migrants relocated from Italy at the end of October and granted asylum in Portugal. The group, including the Eritrean, were being hosted nearby by the “social solidarity” non-profit, Antonio Silva Leal Foundation.

The organisation purports to offer protection to “children, youth, adults and seniors at risk of social disintegration and exclusion”.

A passerby, upon seeing the attack, chased the Eritrean to a bus terminal where he managed to hold him until the police arrived.

“I chased him to the old bus terminal and grabbed him. I alerted the police to the situation and was able to hand the [attacker] over to them,” the 21-year-old said.

The victim was naked and convulsing after the attack and “blood was everywhere”, the young man who intervened told Correio da Manhã.

Portugal’s most widely-read newspaper reported that “bleeding profusely”, the woman was taken to hospital “in a serious condition” by the emergency services.

Following a brief investigation into the incident by the Judicial Police, a judge ordered that Salem be put into custody.

Several crimes by Eritrean migrants have shocked Europe in recent months. Earlier this year, a “refugee” from Eritrea raped a 79-year-old woman as she was visiting her sister’s grave in the German town of Iddenbueren.