A 64-year-old shepherd, who had been living in conditions close to slavery on a farm in the Alentejo, has been rescued by local GNR and referred to a social housing institution, after a good hot meal.
Évora GNR reported that the case came to light on Tuesday following a road accident involving sheep.
Called to the scene, GNR officers from Portel, were questioning the driver of the car involved in the accident, also the shepherd responsible for the wayward flock.
In the process, the GNR, officers found out that the shepherd was working on a farm but he had no identification documents.
The GNR went to the farm and found that the shepherd lived in a dwelling provided by his employer which was not fit for human habitation.
"The victim also reported that he did not receive any money and that only canned food and wine were made available, sporadically," stated the GNR report.
The owner of the farm, a Portuguese man, was taken into custody for the crime of people trafficking, and the case has been referred to the prosecutor.
Captain Bruno Ribeiro from the GNR press office praised the work of the GNR team investigating the car accident:
"It was an animal that had been run over, as many are in the Alentejo, but the story did not sound right" and the GNR "noticed that the man was weak and appeared to have been mistreated."
The GNR decided to "go further in order to find out who he was and discovered he was being exploited, so they took him away from the farm.”
The shepherd was driven to the Portel GNR station where he was provided with a hot meal, and later was sent "to an institution, outside the Alentejo, which supports victims of exploitation and people trafficking."
"The man is already being treated by the institution’s specialists who rehabilitate victims of this type of exploitation," added Captain Ribeiro.
