Italian authorities have arrested two Nigerians and three other African migrants on suspicion of abducting, drugging, and gang raping a 32-year-old Colombian tourist in Rome.
The suspects — between the ages of 29 and 43 — were taken into custody following a police raid on an abandoned building.
According to Italian judicial sources, the victim was approached by a man outside a restaurant in Rome under the pretense of purchasing hashish, a cannabis product, before being led to a van.
She was reportedly transported to a derelict squat on the eastern outskirts of the capital city, where she was held captive for three full days.
Authorities said the woman was repeatedly drugged, and subjected to aggravated gang rape and death threats. At dawn on the third day, the victim managed to break free, running half-naked into the street to cry for help from a passerby, who immediately alerted the police.
Police later raided the property and arrested five suspects identified as Saidykhan Lamin and Karamba Kanteh, both Gambians aged 29 and 38 respectively; Harouna Traore, a 43-year-old Malian; and two Nigerians, Isibor Wisdom, 29, and Paul Nwabueze, 39. The suspects have been charged with gang rape aggravated by the victim’s vulnerable condition and remain in police custody.
Authorities said investigations were ongoing to apprehend other suspects believed to have participated in the incident, including the man who allegedly lured the woman away from the restaurant and the driver who transported her to the building.
Police also said 22 undocumented migrants were discovered during the raid on the abandoned property, with 11 reportedly transferred to detention centres pending deportation procedures.
