British tourist, 22, ‘was raped in a pizzeria by barman, 30, who pushed her into a side room when she dropped in for a meal while on holiday in Napoli’
- The woman described the dark incident as ‘the worst experience of her life’
An English tourist who was allegedly raped by a barman in Naples in a July attack is now working with prosecutors to recreate the harrowing incident.
Returning to the southern Italian city to testify before a judge, the 22-year-old tourist this week told the court how she was holidaying in the southern Italian city when she suffered ‘the worst experience of her life’.
According to her testimony, the incident transpired at a venue in the historic centre of Naples, where she had stopped to relax, sample the food and enjoy a few drinks, Italian daily Il Mattino reports.
There, the young woman claims, she met a bartender who she said spoke good English, and the pair began chatting.
But the innocent meeting quickly turned dark when the bartender led her into a separate room at the premises and forced himself upon her, she alleges.
Returning to the southern Italian city to testify before a judge, the 22-year-old tourist this week told the court how she was holidaying in the southern Italian city when she suffered ‘the worst experience of her life’
The victim expressed her reluctance during the incident and affirmed she had only returned to Naples to see her attacker face justice.
‘If I came back here to confirm what I said during the complaint – it’s to get justice,’ the woman told the court through the assistance of her Neopolitan lawyer, Lucilla Longone.
The accused, a Neapolitan employee of the pizzeria bar, has flatly denied the allegations, and communicated to the court through his lawyers he was not guilty and will defend any charges.
The judge has initiated a critical investigation, including a DNA test on biological traces found on the victim’s clothing – evidence that is expected to be central to the case.
The unfolding legal proceedings now await the results of the test to determine the veracity of the allegations.
This case is part of the broader efforts by the Naples Prosecutor’s Office, specifically the section dealing with gender violence.
The case comes amid intense scrutiny on gender-based violence in Naples after two young girls – cousins aged 11 and 12 – suffered a horrific gang rape by a group of teenagers at an abandoned sports complex earlier this year
The alarming statistics reveal over 5,000 cases of violence against women in Naples annually, highlighting the urgency for swift and effective responses under the ‘red code’ regulations, according to Il Mattino.
These regulations, passed in 2019, mandate a prompt and thorough investigation following a complaint involving serious offences like sexual violence or domestic abuse.
The case comes amid intense scrutiny on gender-based violence in Naples after two young girls – cousins aged 11 and 12 – suffered a horrific gang rape by a group of teenagers at an abandoned sports complex earlier this year.
That incident was headline news in Italy, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paying a visit to the scene of the crime and meeting with local officials to organise a 10 million euro grant to revitalise the complex and the rundown suburban neighbourhood.
Meloni decried the alleged rapes as ‘an inhuman act, an infamous crime that has really shocked everyone’, adding that there ‘are more stories like this than those that surface in the news’.
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