2024-02-11 21:24:11
The seven alleged perpetrators were Egyptian immigrants, three of them under 18 years of age, as confirmed by the Italian police.
Courtesy | The attack would have taken place in a public park in the Sicilian city
Italy is shocked by the alleged gang rape of a 13-year-old girl in front of her boyfriend in a public park in the Sicilian city of Catania, the latest in a series of shocking sexual assaults in the country.
The case is reminiscent of two alleged gang rapes that occurred last summer. A group of seven men and adolescents between 15 and 18 years old are on trial for the alleged rape of a 19-year-old girl in Palermo in August.
Weeks later, nine young people were arrested and accused of allegedly raping two cousins, aged 10 and 12, near Naples and of broadcasting the attack live on social networks. They too face trial.
Last month’s alleged gang rape in Catania has become not only a symbol of violence against women in the country, but a cause célèbre for Italy’s far-right government.
The seven alleged perpetrators were Egyptian immigrants, three of them under the age of 18, Catania police confirmed to CNN.
Lawyers for three of them said their clients denied participating in the assault, while the others declined to comment because their clients are minors.
The case was soon used as evidence that immigrants should be prevented from entering the country.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came to power in September 2022 on an anti-immigration platform, but her efforts to curb irregular immigration in the country have been unsuccessful to date.
The men charged in the latest Sicilian case entered Italy by boat in 2021 and 2022 as unaccompanied minors, according to Catania police.
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, one of the country’s most visible far-right figures, said on X that they should not have been allowed to stay.
Meanwhile, during a visit to Catania, Meloni expressed solidarity with the alleged rape victim and her family. “The State will be there, and the State will ensure that justice is done,” he said.
The way cases involving Italian suspects and those involving Egyptian suspects are being handled has already drawn scrutiny.
The men accused of raping the 19-year-old woman in Palermo were granted expedited trials, their lawyers told CNN, meaning they will be held behind closed doors and under summary secrecy.
Lawyers have been appointed for the Egyptian suspects who have not yet entered pleas, but the prosecutor in the case has already filed additional charges related to illegal immigration, Alessandro Fidone, the court-appointed lawyer representing two of the suspects, told CNN.
Those who are now over 18 years old, and therefore not classified as unaccompanied minors, no longer have the right to remain in the country because Egyptians do not meet the requirements to obtain asylum in Italy.
Italy’s Interior Ministry called for a thorough review of all centers hosting unaccompanied minors to see if there are similar cases.
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