Justice has already denied compensation to the young woman attacked by a shark in PE; understand

A young woman who lost her left arm after being attacked by a shark on Praia de Piedade, in Jaboatão dos Guararapes (PE), in March 2023, had her compensation claims denied by the lower court.

The decision, handed down by judge Juliana Rodrigues Barbosa from the TJPE Procedural Streamlining Center in January this year, concluded that the victim was solely at fault. The case, however, is not yet closed: the author appealed and the case is now being processed in the 3rd Chamber of Public Law of the Court of Justice of Pernambuco.

In the action, the young woman - who was a minor at the time of the incident - alleged that the State of Pernambuco and the Municipality of Jaboatão dos Guararapes were omitted in signaling the shore and monitoring sharks. She pointed to the discontinuity of the CEMIT/PROTUBA program, which ended in 2014, as a determining factor in the accident. Moral and aesthetic damages, a lifetime pension and the cost of a prosthesis were claimed.

The CEMIT/PROTUBA program was responsible for monitoring sharks on the coast of Pernambuco. According to the author's defense, its discontinuation in 2014 increased the risk for swimmers.

The sentence, however, rejected all requests. The judge understood that the risk of shark attacks on the coast of the Metropolitan Region of Recife has been a well-known fact for more than 30 years, requiring no specific proof. According to the decision, there were signs on the streets leading to the beach, which would be sufficient to fulfill the public authorities' information duty.

"The risk of shark attacks on the coast of the Metropolitan Region of Recife is a well-known fact, under the terms of article 374, item I, of the CPC. For more than 30 years, the population has been aware of the danger of certain areas", he stated.

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The judge also rejected the argument that the interruption of the research project had caused the accident. For the judge, there is no direct causal link between the suspension of a scientific program and the occurrence of a wild animal attack. The ruling also highlighted that the State cannot be treated as a universal guarantor against the risks inherent to nature.

"The ocean is a natural habitat for wild animals and the State does not act as a universal insurer against risks inherent to nature. Regarding the suspension of CEMIT/PROTUBA research, there is no direct causal link between the interruption of a scientific project and the bite of an animal. The author's conduct, when entering the sea in a region known to be dangerous, excludes the victim's exclusive fault. By choosing to swim in the sea in an area of notorious risk, the victim assumed the risk of the result, breaking the causal link with any alleged state omission", assesses the judge.

With the dismissal of the requests, the author was ordered to pay the procedural costs and legal fees - set at 10% of the value of the case -, however, the collection was suspended due to the benefit of free justice granted to her.

The appeal was distributed to the TJPE on May 27, 2026 and is under analysis by the 3rd Chamber of Public Law. The panel has not yet made a decision on the merits of the appeal.

CNN tries to contact the State and the Municipality. The space remains open.

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Source: CNN