A 21-year-old German Erasmus student reported being raped by two men in the early hours of Oct. 15 while walking home from a night out in the NoLo neighborhood, police said. She told police she believed the men were likely North African.
The woman told investigators that she was attacked from behind near Parco Trotter, around the intersection of Via Crespi and Via Giacosa, shortly before 5:00 a.m. She said the men restrained her, prevented her from screaming or escaping, and assaulted her in a secluded spot before fleeing.
“He attacked me from behind and knocked me to the ground. Then he took off my pants,” said the victim.
An Italian couple visiting the city on vacation encountered her distressed and in shock. She told them in English that two men had attacked her from behind and raped her. The pair called emergency services. Carabinieri and medical responders arrived, noted bruising, and took her first to a hospital and then to the Mangiagalli clinic, which specializes in sexual-violence cases. She received medical examinations and psychological support.
The student, in Milan through the European Erasmus exchange program, had spent the evening in a local club before heading toward her student housing. According to Italian news outlet Il Giornale, she may have crossed paths with one of the men earlier that night.
After the rape, her parents arrived from Germany.
Investigators are reviewing public and private surveillance footage from the area, which captured two male figures near the scene around the time of the reported assault, along with cell-phone data and other technical evidence.
No suspects have been publicly identified or arrested. One Italian newspaper, Il Giorno MIlano, described an attacker pulling down her pants after throwing her to the ground and then briefly pretending to comfort her when passersby appeared nearby.
Descriptions varied slightly across reports, including references to olive skin and an age range of roughly 30 to 40 for one man.
Remix News has covered a number of stories involving German tourists being victimized in Italy by Middle-Eastern males over the last year, including a 17-year-old German student who said she was raped by a Turkish man just last month. In addition, a German woman was beheaded near Florence earlier this year, with Italian police arresting a North African suspect.
