Italian police arrest four over alleged rape of two British girls

Search to identify four more suspects involved in assault ongoing

Four people have been arrested in connection with an alleged gang rape of two British girls following a private house party in the village of Marconia, in the Basilicata province of Matera in Italy.

The rape allegedly happened on Monday night, and local news agency Adnkronos reported that the 15-year-old girls, who were in Marconia on holiday, were beaten before being sexually assaulted by eight people.

Police are still working to identify and find four other suspects. Those arrested are said to be locals between the ages of 19 and 23, and remain in police custody at the request of the public prosecutor’s office.

Police in Matera said in a statement on Thursday: “On the night between 7-8 September, in Marconia di Pisticci, sexual violence was committed against two foreign minors who were at a party in a villa.

“The investigative unit of Matera police headquarters has begun investigations in coordination with the public prosecutor’s office.”

It is unclear if the rape occurred during the party or at a different location. After the attack, the girls reportedly returned to the place they were staying and alerted the police.

Medics attended the scene and treated the girls for injuries and shock, and then transferred them to a nearby hospital. The girls have since been discharged from hospital, reported Adnkronos.

Viviana Verri, mayor of Matera, said in a statement on Facebook: “The gravity of this incident deeply disturbs the serenity of a country foreign to these forms of hateful violence, even more serious because it is perpetrated against two minors.

“I express full confidence in the work of law enforcement and the Prosecutor of the Republic and I invite everyone to cooperate at this time, in order to bring to justice those guilty of such an atrocity.”