Italian police on Wednesday (January 12th) arrested two young men suspected of having participated in the sexual assault in a meeting of young women during the New Year's festivities in the main square of Milan, the economic capital of the country.
Read also Italy: 18 men suspected of sexual assault in a meeting during the New Year
Nine women claimed to have been assaulted by groups of young men as New Year's Eve celebrations were in full swing on the famous Cathedral Square, in the center of the Lombard capital. The police announced on Tuesday that they had identified around twenty young men, including three minors, suspected of having participated in these attacks, which made the headlines of the peninsula in recent days.
According to a press release from the Ministry of the Interior, computer equipment and clothing related to these attacks were discovered at the homes of the two men arrested in Milan and Turin (Piedmont, north-west).
One is accused of sexually assaulting two young women and stealing something from a third, while the other is accused of sexually assaulting four young women and stealing something from a fifth.
"I had 15 hands on me"
Among the nine victims who came forward are two 20-year-old German tourists, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. “
We tried to push them away, my friend hit and slapped them but they laughed and continued to assault us. I had 15 hands on me
, ”one of the victims testified to ANSA. One of the videos published by local media shows a group of men circling two young women who found themselves pressed against barriers put up by the police. They are seen trying to ward off their attackers and get out of the crowd before running towards the riot-geared police stationed at the edge of the square.
This new episode of violence against women has fueled the debate on this problem in Italy, where the media report one or two murders of women almost every week, most often victims of their partner or their ex.
