( CNN ) -- It is a gruesome scene , even in a country that has seen its share of violence : three men , beheaded , with wounds peppering their bodies on all sides . The most surprising part ? The attack happened inside a jail . A Brazilian newspaper on Tuesday released a video of this stomach-turning scene inside the Pedrinhas jail in Brazil 's northeastern state of Maranhao . The video was recorded on December 17 , the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported , describing how `` other prisoners pose with the bodies , showing them off like trophies . '' A union of jail workers gave the gory footage to the newspaper . Many will view the video simply for the shock value , but behind this incident is a myriad of problems in the Brazilian penal system that allow an environment where something like this could unfold . The Pedrinhas jail was already under scrutiny even before the video was made public . A judge visited the jail just days after the decapitations and wrote a report demanding that the state government regain control of the inmate population . In all , 62 inmates were killed inside Pedrinhas in 2013 . The judge , Douglas Martins , also documented violence against women , saying that female visitors were forced to have sex with the leaders of gangs inside the prison . `` The relatives of the powerless prisoners inside the jail are paying this price so that they wo n't be murdered , '' Martins told Brazil 's judicial news agency . `` It is a serious violation of human rights . '' Overcrowding is also a problem at this jail . There are 2,196 inmates at Pedrinhas , which was built to hold only 1,770 , according to state jail officials . At the root of the violence at Pedrinhas is fighting between two rival factions -- inmates from the state 's capital , and inmates from the interior of the state . In response , the federal government this week reached an agreement with the state to transfer the leaders of these warring factions to federal prisons , the state-run Agencia Brasil news agency reported . The woes at Pedrinhas are not unique to Maranhao state . Overcrowding and violence in jails are a problem in other parts of Brazil , as well as throughout Latin America . Along with the video , Folha de Sao Paulo identified the three decapitated inmates : Diego Michael Mendes Coelho , 21 ; Manoel Laercio Santos Ribeiro , 46 ; and Irismar Pereira , 34 .
A newspaper releases a video of a gory execution . Three prisoners were decapitated inside a cell . India 's jails face problems of violence and overcrowding .