Understand why the woman in the abandoned house can't be arrested

In recent days, the story of a woman who lives in an abandoned house in an upscale neighborhood of São Paulo has gained public attention and has become one of the most talked about topics on social media. Margarida Bonetti, also known as The Woman of the Abandoned House, is a Brazilian who fled the United States after being denounced, with her husband, Renê Bonetti, for keeping a Brazilian woman in a situation similar to slavery in the North American country.

The case gained great repercussion after the launch of the podcast The Woman of the Abandoned House, made available by Folha de S. Paul. In it, journalist Chico Felitti reveals everything he discovered about the case over six months of investigation. The name given to this whole story comes from the fact that Bonetti has lived in an abandoned mansion in Higienópolis, one of the richest neighborhoods in São Paulo, for over 20 years.

The story of the woman in the abandoned house

Known in the neighborhood where she lives as Mari, Margarida Bonetti is descendants of barons and was part of the São Paulo elite in the middle of the last century, being part of one of the most traditional families in the capital of São Paulo. In 1979, she moved to the United States with her husband, Renê Bonetti, due to the business he had obtained in the foreign country. With them, she also traveled with a Brazilian woman, who would help them with household chores in the destination country.

The home secretary, however, began to suffer a series of violence: she was not entitled to salary or medical assistance, she slept in the basement of the house, and the family locked the refrigerator so that she could not eat. Daisy even used to hit the woman with a shoe and throw hot water in the face of her employee.

After spending 20 years living in the basement of the family's home in the US, the woman was released after neighbors reported the situation to local police. It was then that Bonetti fled the country and was considered a fugitive by the FBI, while her husband, who became a naturalized American, remained in the country. There, he was imprisoned for six and a half years and had to pay compensation. During his trial, he also stated that the employee could not be considered as such, as she was "family" and worked less than the couple.

For having fled and returned to the country, the woman from the abandoned house was never tried and, since the beginning of the century, she has lived in the house in Higienópolis, where she lived for a few years with her own mother, who died a few years later. Her husband, after having served his sentence in the United States, now earns an annual salary equivalent to R$ 1 million.

But why can't she be arrested in Brazil?

While her husband served the sentence imposed by the US justice, Mari fled before the police could take her to prison on US soil. Alexys Campos, criminal law attorney at the law firm Cascione, explains that, even if it is known where Margarida is, the woman in the abandoned house cannot be arrested by the FBI, as only Brazilian authorities have jurisdiction to enforce criminal law in the country and any action for his capture would be a violation of sovereignty.

The specialist also explains that the key point is not even the capacity for cooperation between the security agencies of the two countries, but the Brazilian legislation, which through Art. 5th LI of the Federal Constitution, imposes that no Brazilian should be extradited, except the naturalized, in case of common crime, committed before naturalization, or proven involvement in illicit trafficking in narcotics and related drugs. In this way, even formal requests for extradition to carry out the sentence abroad are often denied.

The lawyer also explains that some legal tricks could be used in circumstances like this. “Even if the Brazilian is not extradited, there are procedural and international cooperation mechanisms that allow the ratification of a foreign judgment in Brazil, for the reparation of damages and other civil effects, in addition to security measures. Even in that case, imprisonment would not be legally possible.”.

As slave labor was typified on American soil, seclusion should take place there, thus respecting the principle of territoriality. For Campos, one of the few ways to prosecute Margarida for the crime would be through the interest of the Brazilian State in the conviction of the accused, promoting a new criminal action, starting from scratch, here. "In this situation, even if the infraction was committed abroad, it would be subject to the application of Brazilian law with the possibility of executing the criminal law", says the lawyer.

Margarida Bonetti's life in Brazil

Margarida rarely appears outside the mansion in which she lives in São Paulo. Always using a kind of white cream on her face, she was always reserved and of little conversation, according to people who live close to the woman. Since the release of the content and repercussion of the case, however, she has not been seen in the region again. Everything indicates that she ran away, and at one time, abandoned her two dogs in the house without food or water.

Since then, the abandoned house located in the Higienópolis neighborhood, in São Paulo, has attracted visitors, the curious and even animal advocates. The Luisa Mel Institute, for example, was at the site last Sunday (3), to rescue the dogs that lived there. On social networks, it is possible to find posts and images of curious people taking selfies with the mansion, which is located on Piauí street, in the background.

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Sources: R7, Mail, Metropolis.