The teenager who was allegedly dragged from a car by a gang of migrants and raped in front of her fiancé has described her night of hell.
The woman, 19, was with her 24-year-old partner in his car when they were surrounded by the five-strong gang, who smashed their way into the vehicle.
The group pounced while the couple were parked in a secluded park in the Rome suburb of Tor Tre Teste, an area popular with courting couples but in recent years has become a no-go area due to drug dealing.
Using a bottle, they smashed their way into the car despite the man bravely trying to fight off the attackers – all described as North African migrants – and begging them to leave his girlfriend alone.
But his frantic pleas fell on deaf ears as the terrified woman was dragged from the vehicle and raped while her boyfriend was held back and forced to watch her terrifying ordeal.
The woman, who has not been named, is said to have told investigators in a chilling account how the gang forced their way into the car and stole their valuables, before dragging her out.
She said: ‘They entered the car after smashing a window and took my cell phone from the seat. I reached out to get it back, and at that point one of them grabbed my arm and dragged me out.’
Snatched from her helpless fiancé, the terrified girl was warned they would murder her as they led her away to a secluded spot.
She recounted: ‘”Come with me now, if you scream I’ll kill you,” he said, forcing me toward the trees. But he wasn’t alone; there was another man with him, making sure no one was coming.’
The traumatised teenager added: ‘While he raped me, his friend kept watch to make sure no one was passing by’.
Italian police patrolling the streets of Rome. Investigators are probing after a man was forced to watch as migrants raped his 19-year-old fiancée
A general view of the Tor Tre Teste, a park in the eastern part of the capital, where the attack took place
Her boyfriend told investigators that the alleged attackers also threatened to kill him if he made a sound: ‘They threatened us with death’.
But it was his cries for help that alerted someone nearby to the terrifying incident.
He told police that his attackers said to him that if he moved, ‘”We’ll kill you”. But I started screaming as loud as I could’.
These screams alerted a night patrol officer, who promptly called for support, putting an end to the alleged attack.
Police said that three Moroccans had been held but the hunt for at least two others was still ongoing.
Two of the three were held in the Rome suburb of Quarticciolo and the third was arrested 350 miles away in the northern city of Verona.
DNA samples for one of the three held did not match – but he was still being held in custody along with the other two.
One of the alleged attackers claimed to police that their plan was to rob the couple of their phones and cash, before using the money for drugs.
He told cops that they have done this around a dozen times already, mostly extorting money from prostitutes on Viale Palmiro Togliatti.
A police source in Rome previously told the Daily Mail: ‘This was a particularly shocking crime and the level of violence used against the couple was terrifying.
‘The car window was smashed with a bottle, and the gang grabbed the woman’s phone as she screamed for them not to take it.
‘The boyfriend tried to stop what was happening but the attackers then dragged the women from the car and attacked her while the boyfriend looked on.’
Despite the woman’s screams because of the late hour and location, no one heard her cries for help, and the gang escaped before the traumatised couple were able to drive off and raise the alarm after driving to a nearby hospital.
Police said fingerprints also found at the scene matched one of those arrested and a source added they were ‘hopeful’ of catching the missing members of the gang.
Italy’s firebrand deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has called for the migrants who held a man down and forced him to watch as they smashed into his car and raped his 19-year-old fiancée to be chemically castrated
Before the attack was made public, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, who has vowed to tackle migration, also spoke out against violence against women
The woman is also said to have recognised a photo of one of the men that was shown to her.
The case has ignited fury across the country, with Italy’s deputy Prime Minister calling for the alleged attackers to be chemically castrated.
Firebrand anti-migration MP Matteo Salvini spoke out as a wave of revulsion swept the country, as police revealed sickening details of the horrific incident.
Writing on X he said: ‘On the very day to highlight violence against women terrible news reaches us.
‘We propose the chemical castration to stop rapists and paedophiles, and our proposal is also ready before Parliament.
‘Everyone should give us a hand, conferences and red marks on faces are not enough, let’s slash violence.’
Last year, Meloni spoke out after it was revealed that a 13-year-old girl was raped by Egyptian migrants in Sicily after being dragged into a public toilet.
