Rome police say a young man was forced to watch a group of migrants rape his 18-year-old fiancee after they crashed into their car and dragged them out.
The young Italian couple, who police say were naked before the incident, parked in a quiet corner of Tor Tre Teste, a park in the eastern part of the capital, minutes before they were surrounded by a group that attacked their vehicle.
Police said the attackers smashed a window and first pulled the 24-year-old man out of the car before forcing the woman out as she tried to cover herself with a piece of clothing. The man told the officers that the two attackers held him down as they dragged his fiancee away from him.
While they were raping her, he screamed for help, begged them to stop and even threatened revenge, but he didn’t stop them or break free. After the attack, all three perpetrators fled the scene. The couple called the police and filed a report.
According to authorities, the couple was terrified and confused. The officers also added that it is possible that up to five attackers were involved. So far, they have arrested three Moroccans on charges of gang rape and robbery.
Two of them were found by police officers from Rome’s “Flying Squad” unit and detained only a few days after the attack on October 25, and the third was arrested in Verona a few days ago. Investigators said the arrests were being kept under wraps as they continued to gather evidence.
Fingerprints from the broken window match the arrested men, according to investigators. The police also said that the attack started as a robbery, since the couple’s belongings were stolen during the attack, writes the Daily Mail.
Confirming that police were still investigating whether any other men were involved, the detective said ‘the investigation is not closed’.
Last November, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni linked migrants, especially those without documents, to the rise in sexual violence and rape in the country. Before she was elected, she published a horrific video of a woman being raped by a migrant on the sidewalk in Piacenza.
Recent cases of gang rape involving immigrants have led to public protests against illegal mass migration and violence against women.
In February 2024, a helpless 13-year-old girl was brutally raped for half an hour by a group of Egyptian migrants in Catania after being dragged into a public toilet. She claimed that the two, both minors, sexually assaulted her while the rest of the gang restrained her.
In another case in October 2024, an asylum seeker allegedly impregnated a 10-year-old girl after raping her. A 28-year-old Bangladeshi migrant allegedly assaulted a girl at a migrant center in Lombardy.
Italy is not the only European country experiencing an increase in sexual violence among migrants. Last month, police arrested five Syrian men after a teenage girl was gang-raped and threatened with a stun gun.
Meanwhile, last week, politicians in Italy moved to expand the definition of sexual violence to include non-consensual acts. This relieves the victim of responsibility for showing physical signs of abuse.
Advocates welcomed the amendment, saying it would make it easier for people to report such crimes. It comes after the outcome of several rape cases sparked outrage among the Italian public, reports say Dnevnik.hr
(TYPE/Photo: Illustration)
