Italy’s deputy prime minister urges lawmakers to use chemical castration as punishment for criminals such as a group of Egyptian immigrants in Sicily who allegedly gang-raped a 13-year-old girl in front of her boyfriend last month. did.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Matteo Salvini wrote: “Don’t come talk to me about ‘tolerance’ or ‘wrongness’. In the face of this kind of horror there can be no tolerant response, but the only cure is chemical castration.” The politician also urged his colleagues to vote. “The proposal presented by [Salvini’s political party] La Liga” as soon as possible.
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Although the vice prime minister did not elaborate on the details of the proposal, La Liga lawmaker Annalisa Tardino explained: “Rapists and pedophiles need chemical castration, and their equivalents need life sentences.” [instances]Security in the city will also be strengthened. ” Immigrants who commit such crimes should be punished “Immediate repatriation” she added.
“Such behavior would never have been tolerated in Egypt.” Tardino continued. “Children’s safety must be a top priority throughout Italy.”
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Seven Egyptian teenagers, aged between 15 and 19, have been arrested in connection with an attack in a public toilet in Villa Bellini Park in Catania, Sicily last Tuesday. Two of the suspects reportedly raped a 13-year-old girl, while the other beat her 17-year-old boyfriend and forced him to watch her.
The girl told police that she was able to escape after being assaulted by the second rapist, and the couple then fled. During the attack, no one came to help despite screams, they said.
Italian media said the group was quickly arrested thanks to footage from the park’s surveillance cameras. The girl was able to identify two of the suspects, and her boyfriend was able to identify the remaining five. One person was arrested after attempting to flee the city.
All seven suspects entered Italy illegally between 2021 and 2023, Italpress reported. Four of them had turned 18 since their arrival, and all had been living in immigration facilities for minors.
According to statistics released by Italy’s Ministry of Interior in 2019, 42% of rape cases in the country were committed by migrants.
Salvini, famous for his crackdown on illegal immigration when he was interior minister, has publicly criticized free immigration to Italy, and in September threatened to have 6,000 migrants a day land on the small island of Lampedusa. declared that there was. “It will destroy the entire Italian society.”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ran for office on the platform of curbing the influx of immigrants. “Maritime blockade” Instead, she managed record numbers of illegal immigrants arriving in Italy, even approving plans for the country to take in more than 400,000 non-EU illegal immigrants a year.