Italian man ‘forced to watch as fiancée, 18, dragged from car in Rome park and gang raped by migrants’
A man was allegedly forced to watch as his 18-year-old fiancée was gang raped by migrants after the couple were set upon and dragged from their car naked.
An Italian man was allegedly forced to watch as his 18-year-old fiancée was gang raped by migrants after the couple were set upon and dragged from their car naked while stopped in a park in Rome.
The nightmarish incident unfolded on the night of October 25 in the Tor Tre Teste park, in the eastern suburbs of the Italian capital, according to local media reports.
The couple had retreated to a corner of the park, hoping to spend some intimate time in the car on what should have been a calm evening.
Within minutes, they were suddenly surrounded by three men who smashed the windows, showering the pair with glass, looking to steal their mobile phones.
The 24-year-old man was dragged from the car before the attackers noticed his naked fiancée desperately trying to cover herself with clothing.
She was allegedly torn from her boyfriend’s arms and raped, while two of the assailants restrained the man and forced him to watch.
The man told police he begged, screamed and threatened the gang, but his cries went unheard, and he was helpless as they raped the terrified teen metres away.
After the assault, the men grabbed the couple’s belongings and fled.
The traumatised couple immediately filed a police report.
Rome’s Flying Squad quickly located and arrested three Moroccan suspects.
Two were found in Quarticciolo, one of Rome’s main drug-dealing areas, on October 28, while the third man — the suspected rapist — was picked up in Verona a few days ago, the Corriere Della Sera newspaper reports.
Police said the arrests were kept quiet while investigations were ongoing.
All three were detained on charges of gang rape and aggravated robbery.
The case took a dramatic turn on Monday, however, after it emerged that DNA samples recovered by forensic experts do not match the suspect who was identified by the 18-year-old as her rapist.
The DNA profile also does not match the other two men who allegedly held down her fiancé.
Despite the test result, the three arrested men remain in prison.
Police have not ruled out suspicions that the group of attackers may have consisted of up to five people.
Rumours emerging in recent days suggest two other Moroccan accomplices are still missing and being sought by police, Corriere Della Sera reported on Monday.
A third man, a Tunisian national, is also being sought by police and may be the young woman’s rapist, according to the report.
Investigations are ongoing to determine further details of the incident.
The quiet Tor Tre Teste park has become the centre of a shocking catalogue of sexual violence, with police now probing a string of assaults stretching back months.
On August 24, a 60-year-old woman was attacked at around 6am while walking her dog.
The victim was dragged into the park near the Via degli Olmi entrance and raped with such force that she suffered two broken ribs.
Despite her injuries, she managed to reach the Casilino hospital emergency room, where doctors confirmed clear signs of violent assault.
Detectives later traced the culprit — a 26-year-old Gambian construction worker captured on local CCTV.
He admitted to being under the influence of drugs at the time.
The same man was also linked to another rape just days later, when a 44-year-old woman was attacked at a bus stop.
He is now locked up in Regina Coeli prison.
Locals held a “solidarity walk” in the park on September 6 against all forms of “gender violence”, calling for the care, safety and enhancement of the park.
Participants held banners and placards reading “If they touch one, they touch us all”, “Enough with abandonment and degradation, let’s take care of the neighbourhood” and “Stop abandonment in working-class neighbourhoods”.
Last year, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni linked migrants to the country’s rise in sexual violence and rape.
A number of high-profile gang rape cases involving migrants have sparked widespread outrage and public protests in recent years.
In February 2024, a 13-year-old girl was dragged into a public bathroom in Catania, Sicily, by a group of seven Egyptian migrants, who brutally raped the girl for half an hour.
Ms Meloni, who leads the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, at the time vowed “justice will be done”.
But the PM has come under fire from some critics for perceived inaction on tackling the country’s illegal immigration problem, with Italy remaining the leading destination for migrants journeying by boat from North Africa.
— with The Sun
Originally published as Italian man ‘forced to watch as fiancée, 18, dragged from car in Rome park and gang raped by migrants’
