Seven teenage migrants from Egypt have been arrested after a 13-year-old girl was gang raped in front of her boyfriend this week in Catania, an ancient port city on the island of Sicily.
According to information released by local police, a 13-year-old girl and her boyfriend were approached by a group of seven foreigners in the municipal garden of Villa Bellini in the city of Catania.
After threatening the young Italian couple, the gang of migrants attacked the boy, beating him and then holding him down. Two from the group then held down the 13-year-old girl and took turns raping her as the others watched on. Despite their screams, no one came to their aid. After being raped by the second assailant, the girl managed to break free and the young couple fled.
Using footage from nearby surveillance cameras and descriptions provided by the victim and her boyfriend, the police were able to quickly identify their attackers. Of the seven Egyptian nationals, three were teenage minors. Despite four being over the age of 18, they were also put in migrant reception centres intended for minors, Il Giornale reports.
Following their arrests, three were taken to Catania Piazza Lanza prison, one was placed under house arrest, and the final three were returned to the migrant reception centre.
The horrific attack has sparked political outrage within Italy, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni saying: “I want to express my solidarity with her and her family. The state will be there and justice will be done.”
Going further, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said: “Don’t come and talk to me about ‘tolerance’ or ‘error’. In the face of horrors of this kind, there can be no clemency but only one cure: chemical castration. I’m counting on the proposal presented by the League to be voted on as soon as possible.”
Italian MEP Annalisa Tardino, who serves for Savlini’s League in Brussels, added: “We remain firm in the idea that chemical castration is needed for rapists and paedophiles, life imprisonment for similar episodes, as well as greater security in our cities. For the foreigners repatriated immediately!
“In Egypt, they would never have allowed such behaviour. The safety of our children must be a priority throughout Italy. ”
It is not the first instance of foreign minor migrants being allowed into Italy to in turn commit sexual violence against the native population. Just last November, for example, two 15-year-old North African migrants sexually assaulted a 30-year-old woman in Bologna. Fortunately for the woman, she was saved by passers-by before the two teenagers were able to rape her.
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