App driver is arrested in Paraná on suspicion of raping a passenger after preventing her from getting out of the car and taking her to a motel

A 44-year-old app driver was arrested preventively in Foz do Iguaçu, in western Paraná, suspected of raping a 28-year-old passenger. According to the Civil Police, the man accepted a ride requested by the victim, locked the car doors when she tried to disembark and forcibly took her to a motel, where he committed sexual violence.

The arrest took place on Tuesday (13), following an investigation conducted by the Foz do Iguaçu Women's Police Station. The crime occurred on July 25, 2026.

The identity of the person under investigation was not disclosed.

According to police, the suspect was already chasing the woman. He monitored her routine and used to approach her at bus stops and public roads to offer her rides. The victim refused the offers.

In the early hours of the crime, the woman had left a meeting with friends and requested a ride via app. The trip was accepted by the investigator.

Upon entering the vehicle and recognizing the driver, she asked to disembark immediately. According to the investigation, the man refused to stop, locked the doors and continued driving.

According to the police, the suspect diverted the route and took the passenger against her will to a motel on the banks of BR-277.

At the scene, the woman was attacked with slaps, kicks and suffered asphyxiation during the sexual violence. The man also allegedly made death threats if she reported the crime to the police.

After the attacks, the driver left the victim on a public road, near the house of acquaintances, and fled at high speed.

The Civil Police reported that the woman has a moderate intellectual disability, a condition considered in the investigation into the crime of rape of a vulnerable person.

Given the seriousness of the facts and the risk to the victim's integrity, the police requested the preventive detention of the person being investigated, which was authorized by the Court.

The man is being investigated for rape of a vulnerable person and persecution of a woman.

After his arrest, he was taken to the Foz do Iguaçu Public Prison, where he remains at the disposal of the Justice Department.