A Bangladeshi national is under investigation in Venice after a 17-year-old compatriot accused him of raping her inside the Mestre home she shares with her husband and newborn child.
The alleged attack took place on Thursday evening while the girl’s husband, also Bangladeshi, was out of the property. According to the initial report, the suspect, described as a fellow Bangladeshi who lived in the same accommodation, allegedly waited until the husband had left before assaulting the teenager.
As reported by Il Giornale, the girl reportedly managed to break free and contact her husband, who then called the police. Officers attended the scene, took the girl’s statement, and began inquiries into the suspect, who has been identified and charged with sexual assault.
Politicians from the right-wing Lega party commented on the attack. Anna Cisint, a member of the European Parliament, and Alex Bazzaro, the party’s group leader on Venice City Council, linked the allegation to wider concerns about illegal subletting, abusive housing arrangements, and the treatment of women in some migrant communities.
“An unacceptable episode, a shameful rape that targeted a 17-year-old Bangladeshi girl,” Cisint said. “Another victim of the violence of radical Islam and probably of the rotten system based on hospitality. The same pattern I have already seen in Monfalcone. A Bangladeshi minor already with children: I wonder, a child bride?” she added, as cited by Leggo.
Bazzaro said the attack was partly due to a broken housing system he described as a “black market of illegal sublets and abusive bed spaces.”
“This is the pseudo-culture that the left wants to bring to the Venice City Hall. We believe these individuals must be repackaged and sent back to where they came from,” he added.
Authorities have not confirmed any wider investigation into the girl’s marriage, housing situation, or immigration status.
The criminal investigation into the sexual attack is ongoing.
