Italian police rescued a young woman who was allegedly being tortured by an African migrant for hours, perhaps for an entire day, inside the suspect’s apartment. The man even allegedly recorded the various acts of torture and sent the video to the woman’s mother.

The 32-year-old man, who is from Ghana, was arrested Dec. 4 at 11:30 a.m. in Vicolo Bertolinis in the Italian city of Sassari, where police recovered video evidence of the torture.

Prosecutors are investigating the charges of kidnapping for extortion, torture, and assault.

🇮🇹🚨“I had an impulse."

A 35-year-old African man has made a full confession for beating and sexually assaulting a 53-year-old Italian woman at dawn in the city of Gallarate.

The African suspect:

🔺has lived in Italy for 11 years
🔺works as a mechanic
🔺has 3 children

The… pic.twitter.com/VIFsBxPxug

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) November 25, 2025

Police arrived inside the apartment, but there are conflicting reports about how they first became aware of the case. The first report indicated that neighbors reported screams inside the building, while another report indicated the man filmed the torture of the woman, sent the video to the mother demanding money, and then the mother contacted the police.

The woman, who was described as “petite” and “unable to defend herself,” was in critical condition. She had a black eye and a swollen face, among other serious injuries. The African suspect also allegedly whipped the woman over and over with a belt on video.

The man was only arrested with the use of a taser.

Italian news outlet L’unione Sarda reported the torture occurred for at least several hours, but could have been carried out for an entire day.

The motive behind the kidnapping and torture of the victim still remains unclear, but the African migrant has a “significant criminal record.” It is believed the torture was carried out as punishment for the woman’s unpaid debt, which seems to be confirmed in the video the man recorded. The African also reportedly told police that the woman stole €600 and two cellphones from him.

‘I had an impulse’ – After vile rape attack against Italian woman in Gallarate, mayor praises remigration and says foreigners commit half of sexual violence crimes in Italy

Doctors treated the victim at the local hospital. Although the woman suffered severe injuries, her life is not in danger.

The judge handling the case is Gian Paolo Piana, and the prosecutor is Angelo Beccu.

African suspects have been involved in a number of high-profile cases targeting women in Italy as of late.

Last month, an asylum seeker from Mali bit off an Italian woman’s ear during a brutal beating and rape attack in the city of Sondrio. The woman was in critical condition after the attack. In another case last month, another Italian woman was severely beaten and raped by a Gambian migrant in Gallarate.

Data reported this year also showed that 11,141 women had been raped by foreigners since 2018, and that foreigners are responsible for 44 percent of all sexual crimes in Italy, despite being only 9 percent of the population.