Toddler stuck with needles out of danger

Sao Paulo: Surgeons successfully removed the four most life-threatening needles from the lung and heart area of a Brazilian toddler, and are evaluating when to extract dozens more allegedly stuck deep into the boy by his stepfather.

Police say 30-year-old bricklayer Roberto Carlos Magalhaes confessed to pushing the metal sewing needles into the two-year-old child because his lover told him to while in trances. The rituals were performed over a month supposedly to keep the couple together.

Late on Friday, the child was in stable condition after nearly five hours of surgery to remove the four needles, which were up to 5 centimetres long, said Susy Moreno, a spokeswoman for the hospital in the northeastern city of Salvador where the boy was in intensive care.

"He's OK, the surgery was a success, he's doing fine," she said in a telephone interview.

Dozens more needles remain inside the boy's body, but the four removed were considered the most life-threatening. Doctors will evaluate his recovery before deciding when to perform at least two more surgeries to remove more needles.

Police say they believe the lover, Angelina Ribeiro dos Santos, told Magalhaes the ritual would keep them together, but she was really seeking revenge on Magalhaes' wife by having him hurt her son.

The bricklayer told detectives Dos Santos would enter into trances and give him commands to insert the needles, police inspector Helder Fernandes Santana said. The stepfather told police the rituals happened every few days for a full month, with him inserting several needles during each session.

Dos Santos paid to have the needles blessed by a woman who practised the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble, Santana said.

Authorities initially estimated the boy had as many as 50 needles but, following batteries of tests, doctors now believe there are closer to 30 needles inside, but they don't know for sure.

Magalhaes and dos Santos were both arrested, though no charges were filed.

The boy's mother, a maid, took him to her hometown hospital in Ibotirama on December 10, saying he was complaining of pain.

• 30 needles estimated to be inside toddler's body
• 4 needles removed from the lung and heart area