Margherita De Pompeis, a 21-year-old influencer on TikTok from Italy, told the story of how she prevented the attack of two foreign men in the city of Milan. In the video, which has nearly 7 million views, she describes how she was chased through the streets of Milan
“I have to make this video because the situation is getting out of hand here,” says the visibly upset De Pompeis.
“I was crossing Viale Bianca Maria, behind San Babila, to go to a friend of mine’s house. I was at the traffic light when I saw two non-EU boys dressed very badly, you could see that they weren’t good people, who started pointing at me and pointing at me,” she said.
The story has been widely covered in the Italian media, including in Il Messaggero and Corriere.
@itsnotmaggie_ Per favore non sottovalutate problema indifferentemente se siete ragazzi o ragazze. Ormai è diventato pericoloso anche attraversare la strada. Fate qualcosa per favore perché è impossibile vivere cosi. Milano è una città con prezzi folli e purtroppo ci sono molte persone che non possono permettersi di prendere sempre dei taxi. Molti ragazzi non hanno nemmeno la patente e i mezzi funzionano male dopo una certa ora. Molti penseranno che andare in giro in gruppi o di giorno sia piú sicuro, ma fidatevi che non cambia assolutamente la situazione. Spesso queste persone vanno in giro con coltelli o corpi contundenti con i quali minacciano le vittime ( è successo a sei miei amici di recente). Voi ragazzi state attenti per favore. Lancio un grido disperato alle autorità affinché facciano qualcosa per risolvere questa situazione che ormai è sfuggita di mano. @milanobelladadio ♬ suono originale – MEG
De Pompeis recounted the attack, which occurred in the city center of Milan, saying:
“At that moment I was paralyzed; fortunately, I saw a taxi that was coming in my direction. So I stood in the middle of the road screaming to make the car stop. The two boys then started chasing me and shouting things at me in Arabic. Luckily, the taxi arrived and stood between me and them and let me in. He was my angel: without him, they would have raped and robbed me because that was their intent. The taxi driver was very kind, he took me home without asking me anything. He also told me that the night before he had saved another girl from a situation similar to mine in Porta Venezia. The girl explains that she wanted to publish the video to tell others to ‘not underestimate the problem, regardless of whether you are boys or girls.'”
In the description of the video posted to TikTok, the young woman then addressed the authorities directly: “Milan is a city with crazy prices, and unfortunately there are many people who cannot afford to always take taxis. Many kids don’t even have a driving license… Many will think that walking around in groups or during the day is safer, but trust me, it absolutely doesn’t change the situation… I’m making a desperate cry to the authorities to do something to resolve this situation.”
A rough translation of the woman’s account has also been posted to X by RadioGenoa, which has also accumulated millions of views.
Another video detailing the beating and rape of another Italian woman by five Pakistani men was also posted by the same X account.
Italian women have been increasingly victimized by foreign nationals, with the country bring subject to crime waves involving the rape of Italian women, including gang rape, involving foreign males that have made national headlines. As Remix News reported, during Prime Minister Girogia Meloni’s campaign, she responded to a video showing the rape of a Ukrainian refugee by a migrant male in the middle of the day.
“One cannot remain silent in the face of this atrocious episode of sexual violence against a Ukrainian woman carried out in daytime in Piacenza by an asylum seeker,” Meloni wrote on Twitter, which has since deleted the video that she originally shared.
“A hug to this woman. I will do everything I can to restore security to our cities.”
It is only one of many cases, with Italian teenagers being groped on a public train by up to 30 migrants last year, or the 18 Italian women groped by a group of migrant men in Milan during New Year’s celebrations.
In Italy, 40 percent of all rapes are committed by foreigners, who make up 8 percent of the population. Reuters acknowledged this statistic in a 2017 report about a spate of migrant rape attacks that year.
