A 38-year-old Somali man has been arrested after attempting to rape a 43-year-old pregnant woman in a hospital in Rome after he was able to sneak into the facility and dress up like a member of staff.
The incident occurred at the Sant’Eugenio in Rome at the end of December and saw 38-year-old Ali Abdella arrested shortly after the attack. He will likely be charged with aggravated sexual violence and theft, La Stampa reports.
The police in Rome say that the man had been living in Italy for the past 5 years as an asylum seeker and though he has a residence permit, has been arrested for crimes in the past.
According to investigators, the Somali was able to sneak into the hospital undetected where he then made his way to the maternity ward. His 43-year-old victim was in the delivery room when the attack occurred and said the man groped her and began to masturbate in front of her.
The woman then screamed for help and was heard by nearby doctors and nurses who then called the police.
Lawyer Alessia Giordano, who now represents the Somali man, told the magistrate that she had no idea why her client was at the hospital at all that day. She is expected to claim that the 38-year-old is mentally unstable and requires psychiatric help.
In Germany in 2016, an 18-year-old Somali asylum seeker was arrested for sexually molesting two elderly men in a care home in the town of Neuenhaus and then killing the wife of one of the men when she confronted him.
Somali migrants are also heavily involved in people trafficking in Italy. In October, a Somali named Osman M. was convicted in an Italian court for his particularly brutal behaviour which saw him rape, torture, and even murder migrants on their way from Africa to Europe.
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