When a pedestrian is hit by a bus, the simple clerk Arandir runs and kisses the moribund in a gesture of sympathy and unconditional pure love. The opportunist scum photographer Amado Pinheiro witnesses the scene and sees the opportunity to sell newspaper and together with the despicable and abusive chief of police Cunha, they accuse Arandir of homosexuality. Further, they say that the victim would be his lover and had been killed by Arandir because he was jealous. Meanwhile, his father-in-law Aprígio that does not like him goes to the suburban village to tell his daughter and Arandir's beloved wife Selminha and her sister Dália that Arandir is at the police station. On the next morning, when the newspapers are distributed, Arandir is in the headline and later is humiliated in his work and in the village where his family lives. While Amado and Cunha manipulate the event and witnesses, common bigoted people believe that Arandir is gay and a killer, with tragic consequences.