The prosecutor’s office of the Italian metropolis of Milan is investigating at least five cases of group sexual assault committed on young women on New Year’s Eve in the central part of the city, reports the Italian television Sky TG 24.
What happened is very reminiscent of the events of New Year’s Eve in Cologne in 2016.
A few days after the New Year, Italian media first reported that a 19-year-old woman was surrounded at 1:30 a.m. on January 1 by some 30 young people who began to touch her. The incident took place on a boulevard near the square in front of Milan Cathedral. The violence continued for some time before police intervened.
A friend of the girl also became the subject of a similar attack in the area, but she was rescued by an acquaintance, BTA reported.
Following this news, a video was shown on the Internet showing the aggression against one of the two girls. The shocking footage shows a crowd surrounding the girl dressed in red, pushing him, touching him, and he shouts, but the crowd pushes him back and forth and no one tries to disperse the men and help the woman. The footage shows the men surrounding the girl even trying to undress her in the middle of the street.
A few days after it became clear about these two cases, a similar attack was reported, committed again on New Year’s Eve. It took place in the square in front of Milan Cathedral. Two German students who were in Milan for the New Year were injured.
After the incident, they say that they went to the square to celebrate the New Year with many people. Suddenly many men – about 30 – surrounded them and began to touch them. The hands of the perpetrators stirred even under their underwear. One girl fell to the ground and the men continued to harass her. The two victims say they have not yet been able to recover from what happened.
Footage of this aggression was also circulating on the Internet. They clearly show how women have been pushed and harassed by many of the men around them. When the crowd approached police officers in the square, who were supposed to ensure security on New Year’s Eve, only then did the two women somehow manage to break away from the aggressors and take shelter behind the police.
One German woman said the men who raped them spoke neither English nor Italian. The Germans say they called for help, but no one helped them or drove out the attackers. When they managed to break away from the aggressors and hide behind several police officers, they tried to tell what had happened to them, but because they spoke English, the police did not understand them. However, a local media photographer spoke English, and he tried to reassure and help them.
A fifth similar case is being investigated. Investigators are checking security camera footage throughout the area. Various videos uploaded on the Internet from the place of the event on New Year’s Eve are also checked.
The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, said that what happened was a very serious act, which is not worthy of the city. He added that work was under way to identify those responsible for these heinous acts.
Sala said all members of the criminal gang that harassed women would be found and detained. He expressed sympathy for the victims of the attacks.
The news literally shook Italian social networks. In his Facebook account, the leader of the anti-immigrant League party, Matteo Salvini, recalled the term taharush gamea, which in Arabic literally means collective sexual assault on women, which can even lead to rape. The first such practice was documented in Egypt in 2005 against women who joined protests against authorities in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
“Too much aggression against girls and women committed by foreigners who feel unpunished,” Salvini wrote. He then addressed the aggressors directly with the words: “If you are ‘educated’ like this, go back to where you came from, you and those who support you.”
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