Four people are arrested over the gang-rape of two British teenagers at a house party in Italy
- Girls were attacked after party in the small town of Marconia, in Italy’s south
- The girls, said to be teenagers, were also punched and kicked by group of boys
- After alerting the authorities, they were rushed to hospital in the city of Matera
- One of the girls is said to have family living in the area who moved from England
- Marconia’s 12,000 residents said to be reeling after news of the crime emerged
Four people have been arrested over the alleged gang-rape of two British teenage girls at a house party in Italy.
The assault is said to have taken place at a villa in the small seaside town of Marconia di Pisticci in southern Italy, in a region that is one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations.
Authorities are investigating reports that a group of uninvited boys forced their way into the party and attacked the girls.
Four people have been arrested after the alleged rape of two British girls – believed to be teenagers – on the night of 7 September. The assault occurred at a villa in the small seaside town of Marconia di Pisticci in southern Italy (pictured)
‘On the night between 7-8 September, in Marconia di Pisticci, sexual violence was committed against two foreign minors who were at a party in a villa,’ local police said in a statement on Thursday.
‘The investigative unit of Matera police headquarters has begun investigations in coordination with the public prosecutor’s office.’
According to local media reports, the two girls were punched and kicked before being raped by more than one person.
News website Sassilive said the attack took place in the early hours of Monday, when ‘the girls were attacked by a herd of eight boys behind a bush near the place where the party took place’.
The girls were able to make it back to their accommodation where police were alerted and they were then rushed to a hospital in Matera, around 40 miles away.
There, they were treated for shock and were found to have marks on their bodies. They have since been discharged from hospital, according to local reports.
One of the girls is said to have relatives from England living in the area after they moved to Italy several years ago.
The 12,000 residents of Marconia are in deep state of shock, according to local paper La Gazetta Del Mezzogiorno which called it an ‘extremely shameful’ case.
Viviana Verri, the mayor of the town, said in a statement: ‘This is the moment in which the spirit of our community must emerge strongly, a healthy community that cannot and must never get used to such episodes.
‘For this reason [witnesses] cannot afford to keep silent [and must] help investigators to put an end to this affair.’
The Pisticci State Police Commissioner is leading the investigation and few details have been released due to young ages of the alleged victims.