WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Noodle stall owner Qiu Zhaohu has been caged for 38 years for strangling Marcelle Julia Araujo da Silva, 18, after developing a terrifying obsession with her
A businessman who murdered a teenager and fed her remains to two pitbulls after she rejected his romantic advances has been jailed for 38 years.
Qiu Zhaohu strangled 18-year-old Marcelle Julia Araujo da Silva after he developed a grim obsession with the youngster. Marcelle’s mutilated remains were found wrapped in blue tarpaulin at a property owned by the businessman in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Her family believe he lured her into his home in a “trap”. Zhaohu and Marcelle had known each other for the last ten years.
A court heard Zhaohu – who owned a noodle stall in the neighbourhood – had developed a grotesque fixation with the girl who was 20 years his junior.
The prosecution said Marcelle rejected Zhaohu’s romantic advances as she wanted to remain friends. Zhaohu invited the teen to his home in June 2025 insisting she collect a Valentine’s Day gift basket from him in person.
In horrific CCTV footage Zhaohu was seen pushing a large wheelbarrow with blue tarpaulin from his property. Marcelle’s body was later found in another property belonging to the businessman in the northern part of the city. Speaking to police, Zhaohu admitted he had strangled the woman.
In court a witness said they had seen Zhaohu send a message which read: “I’ve already killed her, now I’m going to kill myself.”
After the murder the business owner was questioned and attempted to flee Rio de Janeiro and was later arrested in Carapicuíba, in the state of São Paulo.
During sentencing Judge Elizabeth Machado Louro said: “This is yet another classic episode of femicide, among those that arrive at this court almost daily, on an epidemic scale.
“The mere fact of handing the victim’s body over to the ravenous appetite of pit bull dogs horrifies and repulses any ordinary person.”
Zhaohu was sentenced to 38 years in prison. Judge Louro stated the sentence should serve a preventive and educational purpose as the case highlighted the need to fight violence against women.