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New Year's Eve in the Piazza del Duomo
Photo: MATTEO CORNER / EPA
On New Year's Eve, the New Year was not only celebrated in front of the Milan Cathedral, but there may also have been several crimes in the Piazza del Duomo.
According to the Italian police, 18 Italian and foreign youths and young men between the ages of 15 and 21 were identified who are alleged to have sexually assaulted nine women.
As reported by the Ansa news agency, two 20-year-old German tourists are said to have been among the women affected.
The Milan public prosecutor's office investigated after the women claimed to have been sexually molested by groups of young men in the central square in front of the cathedral.
Based on the images from surveillance cameras, entries in online networks and testimonies, the police were able to identify violence against the women, it was now said.
Investigators searched several properties in Milan and Turin on Tuesday morning.
One of the victims of the sexual assault had told the Italian news agency Ansa: “We tried to push her away, my friend hit and slapped her, but they laughed and kept attacking us.
I had 15 hands on me. ”Several women had also accused the police of inaction during the incidents.
"Not worthy of our city"
Milan's Mayor Beppe Sala had described the alleged attacks as "not worthy of our city".
The incidents on New Year's Eve 2015/2016 in Cologne.
At that time there had been mass sexual assaults against women and other crimes such as theft around the main train station and the cathedral.
The deeds had been perpetrated from among a great number of people.
Many of the suspects were of North African origin.
The events caused horror and emotional debates nationwide.
fek / AFP
