According to Salvini, only chemical castration can be a deterrent against this terrible crime.

Seven young Egyptians who came to Italy as immigrants, including two minors, were arrested for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in Catania, Sicily, the perpetrators will be brought to court on Monday.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also spoke out in the case, expressing her solidarity with the victim.

The Italian state is present and will ensure that justice is served - emphasized the Prime Minister, who added that the case also shook him very much.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini put it more firmly: "Don't come to me with the talk of tolerance and that it's a mistake. Mercy is not possible in the face of such horrors, there is only one remedy: chemical castration".

He added that his party, the League, will submit a bill to parliament as soon as possible to tighten the punishment for sexual violence.

The gang violence was committed in the early evening hours of January 30 in Villa Bellini, a park in the city of Catania. It was a holiday in the city, the park was full of people.

The 13-year-old girl was walking in the park with a 17-year-old Italian boy when they were surrounded by a group of Egyptian youths. The boy was abused and arrested, the little girl was raped by two people in the park's public toilet. The perpetrators of sexual violence were minors.

The young couple eventually managed to escape and call for help.

After the violence, the perpetrators went back to the immigration center reserved for them, but were detained within a few hours. The identification was made on the basis of DNA samples.

The news of the crime was only made public by the authorities, first they announced sexual violence, later they added that the perpetrators were Egyptians who came to Italy as illegal immigrants.

The seven boys arrived in Sicily between November 2021 and March 2023 unaccompanied by adults. All of them were under the age of eighteen, but four were already considered adults at the time of the violence. Three are currently in jail awaiting trial, one boy is under house arrest, and the others have been placed in another immigration center.

MTI