Earlier this year (May 2019), Brazilian model and actress, Najila Trindade, had filed charges against Brazilian football star, Neymar, for rape and sexual assault. The model admitted that she did engage Neymar in conversations which led to a planned meeting in Paris, and that she did want to be with him, but that “that did not give him the right or justification to rape and sexually assault her.” (Paraphrased).
The case of Neymar and Najila gained much publicity in Brazil and around world with most people coming out in support of Neymar and accusing Najila of trying to ruin the superstar’s career and extort money from him.
On social media such as Facebook, there were even widely circulated memes ridiculing Najila for what were believed to be false and fabricated accusations. In one news report which was circulated on Facebook, Najila’s father came out to say that he is outraged that her daughter is being treated by the public as a “dog without owner.” One reader commented under the post “and she isn’t?”
On the 29th of July 2019, after about two months of investigation, the case against Neymar was dismissed by a panel of judges citing “lack of evidence,” “inconsistencies in statements” and other factors.
It might have appeared like things couldn’t have gotten much worse for Najila for pulling such an outrageous publicity stunt. But it does. On Tuesday, 10th of September, 2019, it was reported by the Globo News Media in Sao Paulo that the Sao Paulo Police has indicted Najila for fraud, slander and extortion. In short, they argue that Najila fabricated the stories against Neymar to tarnish his character and extort money from him.
