A black teen was stripped and brutally thrashed for stealing chocolate in Brazil. In a video that went viral, it showed men whipping the boy with an electric cable.

The video also shows the teen howling with pain when a tormentor asked him “are you going to come back.”

The incident reportedly happened at a supermarket, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the teen was caught stealing 4 bars of chocolate.

The cellphone footage of the men brutally beating the boy has been shared widely by authorities and citizens of Brazil.

Pedro Luis de Souza, a detective who is investigating the case, said the video looks like black men during the times of slavery.

During his interview with the press, Detective Luis said, “It is like a scene from centuries ago. A defenseless, homeless black man … A victim of society, I would say.”

Detective Luis said the video of the teen being brutally beaten by men was sent in by a journalist earlier this week.

The detective said he has interviewed the victim in the video and has identified the 2 security guards in the video.

Detective Luis said the security guards tied the teen up and whipped him with electric cables until he promised to not steal again.

If found guilty, the guards in the video could serve up to 8 years in Brazil prison.

The teen in the video spoke with TV Globo, a local news agency, and said that he guards who thrashed him threatened him not to share the incident with anyone.

The teen said the guards told him “if you speak to anyone, we will kill you.”

The teen also said that this is the third time the guards have assaulted him in the same way after he was caught stealing from the same supermarket.

The 2 security guards at the supermarket were hired by a subcontracted company. The 2 security guards have been removed from their positions at the supermarket.

The supermarket said, “We were shocked by the gratuitous and meaningless torture on a teenage victim, We will give all the support needed.”

Brazilians said the video shows the amount of racism still present in Brazil.

Over 50 percent of the population of Brazil is black or mixed race.

Humberto Adami, a lawyer from Rio de Janeiro and the president of the Brazilian bar association’s Black Slavery Truth Commission, said, “It was like the gates of hell had been opened and the demons of Hades come to parade in public. It’s not an isolated incident. But it was filmed.”

In 2017, almost 75 percent of Brazil’s homicide victims were black or mixed race.