Italian police have arrested two Nigerians and three other African migrants over the alleged abduction and gang rape of a Colombian tourist in Rome.
According to reports by British media outlet Daily Express, the 32-year-old Colombian woman was allegedly lured away from a restaurant in the Italian capital on May 19 by a man who reportedly offered to sell her hashish.
Authorities said the victim was taken in a van to an abandoned building on the eastern outskirts of Rome, where she was allegedly held captive for about 72 hours.
Police said the woman was repeatedly raped, drugged and threatened before managing to escape from the building. She was later found half-naked on a pavement by a passerby who alerted emergency responders.
Following a raid on the property, police arrested five suspects identified as Saidykhan Lamin, Karamba Kanteh, Harouna Traore, Isibor Wisdom and Paul Nwabueze.
The suspects have been charged with gang rape aggravated by the victim’s vulnerable condition and remain in police custody.
Investigators said efforts were ongoing to apprehend other suspects believed to have participated in the incident, including the man who allegedly lured the victim away and the driver who transported her to the building.
Police also disclosed that 22 undocumented migrants were discovered during the operation, with 11 reportedly transferred to detention centres pending deportation procedures.
