Italian deputy PM demands chemical castration of rapists who raped 13-year-old girl in public toilet

"A gang of seven Egyptians" raped girl, as per Matteo Salvini, Italian Deputy Prime Minister

Matteo Salvini speaks during a meeting of European nationalists on April 8, 2019 in Milan. — AFP

Matteo Salvini speaks during a meeting of European nationalists on April 8, 2019 in Milan. — AFP

Matteo Salvini, the Deputy Prime Minister of Italy has ordered the attackers who are accused of gang-raping a minor girl in public restrooms to undergo chemical castration.

"A gang of seven Egyptians" raped the girl, according to Matteo Salvini, and there is "only one cure: chemical castration."

On January 30, at around 7:30pm, the 13-year-old girl was sexually abused in the Villa Bellini park in Catania, Sicily, while out for a stroll with her boyfriend, who is 17 years old.

The girl and her boyfriend were dragged by a group of young men into a public lavatory, where two of them allegedly gang-raped the girl as others held the boyfriend back.

According to La Repubblica, seven male suspects—three of whom are minors—are accused of entering Italy unlawfully as "unaccompanied minors" between November 2021 and March 2023. The suspects, who range in age from 15 to 19, are said to be Egyptian.

While in Catania for a scheduled visit, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her outrage at the rape. Conveying her condolences to the victim and her family, she pledged that "justice will be done".

Salvini announced that his Lega party would soon offer a proposal for chemical castration. The party's MEP, Annalisa Tardino, added: "We remain firm in the idea that chemical castration is needed for rapists and paedophiles, life imprisonment for similar episodes, as well as greater security in our cities."

She also demanded that the suspects be returned to Egypt right now, according to Daily Mail.

The girl claimed that when one of the accused seized her boyfriend, the other two grabbed her