The Civil Police ruled out the hypothesis of attempted femicide against Maria Niuzete Batista, a hotel receptionist assaulted by a guest last Saturday (March 7) in the Bigorrilho neighborhood, in Curitiba. The suspect, 24-year-old Jhonathan Reynaldo dos Santos, is in pretrial detention.
Maria Niuzete Batista’s attorney, Jackson Bahls, said the legal team will work to have Santos answer for attempted femicide, since the suspect allegedly set an ambush to assault the hotel employee.
“We are working so that the criminal answers for attempted femicide, with an aggravating factor for the ambush. It is unacceptable that this crime go unpunished,” Bahls stated. “She was ambushed in the bathroom. He waited for the exact moment to catch her off guard. He already had that intention when he asked her to go up to the room with him. It was a meticulously planned ambush.”
The hotel’s security cameras captured footage showing Jhonathan Reynaldo dos Santos running after the victim. In one of the images, he assaults the woman with a punch, from behind, at the hotel reception. According to the Civil Police investigation, he tried to kiss the employee and invited her to go to his room.
The victim states that, before being assaulted, the man invited her to go to his room, made comments about her appearance, and tried to kiss her. The agency stated that the “initial classification of attempted aggravated homicide was defined based on the elements available at the time of the arrest in flagrante [...] Now the courts will determine what will be done.”
Plural remains available should the defense of Jhonathan Reynaldo dos Santos wish to comment.
In a statement, the Federation of Hospitality, Gastronomy, Entertainment and Related Companies of Paraná (Feturismo) repudiated the assault. Below is the note signed by the acting president of Feturismo-PR, Gehad Ismail Hajar:
The Federation of Hospitality, Gastronomy, Entertainment and Related Companies of Paraná (Feturismo) expresses its strong repudiation of the act of violence committed against a hospitality professional at an establishment in the Bigorrilho neighborhood, in Curitiba.
The attack was widely publicized by the press and social networks and represents a serious violation of the physical and psychological integrity of those who work on the front line of customer service.
For Feturismo, hospitality presupposes respect and safety, and hospitality is the fundamental pillar of tourism and necessarily entails mutual respect.
There is no justification for any form of aggression against workers who devote their careers to welcoming and serving well. Episodes of intolerance and violence like this wound the entire production chain and compromise the image of Paraná as a welcoming and safe state.
This Feturismo, affiliated with the National Confederation of Tourism (CNTUR), reinforces that the work environment in the sector must be governed by civility and safety, as the protection of workers is a basic condition for sustainable economic development. It is imperative that the competent authorities clarify the facts with the necessary rigor and that those responsible are quickly and duly sanctioned, serving as an educational benchmark and protection for the profession.
Feturismo reiterates its commitment to defending the interests of the economic sector and workers, remaining vigilant so that the right to safe work is respected by residents and visitors throughout the state, intensifying the debate on safety protocols and the strengthening of support networks for staff.
Curitiba, March 9, 2026.
Gehad Ismail Hajar, Acting President of Feturismo-PR
