Italian girl, 13, is dragged into a public toilet and gang-raped in front of her boyfriend ‘by youths who entered the country illegally as minors’
- She was sexually assaulted on January 30 at around 7:30 PM in Catania, Sicily
An Italian teenage girl was dragged into a public toilet and raped in front of her boyfriend.
The 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at Villa Bellini Park in Catania, Sicily, on January 30 at around 7:30 PM while she was walking with her 17-year-old boyfriend.
A group of young men forced the girl and her boyfriend into a public toilet, where some of them held the boyfriend down while two others raped the girl.
There are seven male suspects – including three minors – who illegally entered Italy as ‘unaccompanied minors’ between November 2021 and March 2023. La Repubblica reports. The suspects are reportedly from Egypt and between 15 and 19 years old.
“Two grabbed me and others grabbed my friend. And they took us to the bathrooms of the villa. It was a nightmare, there was no one there at the time,” she told the outlet.
The girl, 13, was sexually assaulted at around 7.30pm on January 30 in the Villa Bellini Park in Catania, Sicily, while walking with her 17-year-old boyfriend (photo: the public toilet where she was raped)
A group of young men forced the girl and her boyfriend into a public toilet (pictured), where some held the boyfriend down while two others raped the girl.
She said she tried to free herself, as did her friend, but they were unable to overpower the seven teens.
Two of them allegedly raped her while the others watched. She said, “And they forced my friend to watch too.”
‘He was screaming, he was desperate. I said, ‘I beg you, I beg you, don’t hurt me, let me go.’
The rape lasted 30 minutes until the couple were finally able to break free and escape. They immediately alerted the Carabinieri, who captured the group within 24 hours.
The victim has identified the two minor suspected perpetrators of the rape, police said yesterday.
One of them was said to be one of the rapists, while the other was one of the boys who watched and stopped the girl’s boyfriend.
DNA evidence successfully linked one of the three minors to the rape, the prosecutor confirmed.
The rape in the public toilet (pictured) lasted 30 minutes until the couple were finally able to break free and escape. They immediately alerted the Carabinieri, who captured the group within 24 hours
The girl was raped at around 7:30 PM on January 30 in the Villa Bellini Park in Catania, Sicily (photo)
Although the girl was reportedly only able to identify two of the attackers for fear of incriminating an innocent person, her boyfriend identified the other five. Corriere reports.
According to the Public Prosecution Service of Catania, the seven suspects are accused of sexual gang violence.
Two of the suspects – one of them the oldest of the group at 19 years old – reportedly assisted in the investigation. Both say they watched the attack but claim they did not rape the girl.
Four adults have been arrested, while the three minors are being held at the Precautionary First Reception Center in Catania.
One of the minors tried to escape but was caught when he returned home to grab some clothes, La Repubblica reported.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was in Catania on a pre-arranged visit, said she was shocked by the rape. She expressed her condolences for the victim and promised that “justice will be served.”