An African migrant was arrested by Italian police on Sunday after being caught on film raping a Ukrainian woman in the middle of the street in broad daylight.
The incident took place in the centre of the city of Piacenza in the Emilia-Romagna region on Sunday morning at around 6:30 am and saw the migrant, originally from Guinea, allegedly rape his 55-year-old Ukrainian victim on the Via Scalabrini.
Local residents alerted police after seeing the attack take place, while others captured the shocking attack on film, according to a report from the newspaper Il Giornale.
“It is a very serious episode that offends not only the victim but a city that has proved hospitable to those who – evidently – did not deserve it,” national-conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) member Tommaso Foti said and added that he did not want to politicize the attack for election purposes but said it could not be ignored.
The leader of the Brothers of Italy, social conservative firebrand Giorgia Meloni, was slammed by the mainstream media after she posted a video of the attack on her Twitter account.
“One cannot remain silent in the face of this atrocious episode of sexual violence against a Ukrainian woman carried out in daytime in Piacenza by an asylum seeker,” Meloni said and added, “A hug to this woman. I will do everything I can to restore security to our cities.” The Tweet was later deleted with Twitter stating that it violated the rules of the platform.
Populist League leader Matteo Salvini, an ally of Meloni, also commented on the attack saying, “‘Asylum seeker’ and rapist. That’s enough! Defending the borders and the Italians will be a duty for me, not a right. I will be in Piacenza soon, to confirm the League’s commitment to restore security to our country.”
Salvini went on to promise to hire at least 10,000 more police and carabinieri officers in 2023 and to block illegal immigrant landings.
According to a 2020 report, nearly half of the violent rape attacks in Italy are carried out by foreign nationals. The Italian statistics agency ISTAT reported that some 42 per cent of violent sex crimes against women in the country are committed by foreigners, with non-European Union migrants making up a significant number of sex attackers.
Ahead of next month’s September 25th national election, both Ms Meloni and Salvini have vowed to reduce the number of illegals entering the country, with Meloni going as far as suggesting a naval blockade earlier this month.
The centre-right alliance, of which Meloni’s FdI and Salvini’s League are members, looks set to win the national election and some forecasts have the coalition winning as many as 60 per cent of the seats in parliament, opening the way to Meloni becoming Italy’s first female Prime Minister.