Australian woman beaten and raped next to Colosseum in Rome

The attack came just days after a Brazilian woman was kidnapped and gang raped in Italian capital

A view of the entrance of Colle Oppio park, near the Colosseum, in Rome, on 4 October (EPA)

A tourist has been raped, beaten and robbed in Rome after being attacked in a park next to the city’s famous Colosseum.

Police said the 49-year-old woman had been walking from a bar through Colle Oppio park on Sunday evening, in the second attack on foreign women in the city in a fortnight.

The Australian victim, from Canberra, left a bar near Termini railway station with a Romanian man being sought alongside possible second suspect.

Local media reported she was raped and severely beaten, suffering serious injuries in her struggle against her attackers, before being found on the pavement by a passer-by.

Officials said her mobile phone and handbag had been stolen, with doctors at San Giovanni hospital diagnosing severe concussion from punches and lacerations to her face.

She had been due to leave Italy for France on Tuesday to continue a tour of Europe, the Corriere Della Sera newspaper reported, but is expected to remain in hospital for up to a month.

It came just days after a Brazilian woman was kidnapped and gang raped by two men and a woman.

The 48-year-old was attacked near Tuscolana train station before being tied up and assaulted by the gang on 25 September, The Local reported.

She was able to escape while her kidnappers were sleeping and fled to a hospital where she reported the attack.

Two men and a woman, all Romanian nationals, were arrested on suspicion of rape, assult and robbery on Monday.