A 15-year-old girl was raped during the Unification Festival in Bologna while other peers filmed everything with their cell phones.

The facts date back to 18 September, at the North Park: the girl said she was forced to have sexual intercourse with a teenager by a group of kids. Five minors would have been reported but in the meantime the news becomes a battleground between the Brothers of Italy and the Democratic Party.

“ The news of a 15-year-old girl who was raped during the Festa dell'Unità in Bologna, while the notes of Bella ciao were being sang – declares Elisabetta Gardini, deputy group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Chamber - is astounding . A bunch of her peers mocked, harassed and finally filmed her while the violence was taking place . We gather around the girl and her family, respecting their pain, but we demand that what is necessary be done to shed light and punish those responsible. For this reason we ask that the voice of the Democratic Party and its secretary Schlein be heard who, as a woman, should have greater sensitivity on the subject. The horrors of such violence must be denounced without ifs and buts, by everyone, even if they occur in "sacred" places such as the Festa dell'Unità».

«We are shocked by the news that comes from Bologna – echoes Alice Buonguerrieri, deputy of FdI -. Impossible to remain silent and not show all our solidarity and closeness to the girl and her family. The unanimous request is that clarity be made immediately and that those responsible, all of them, be punished. The Democratic Party and the new secretary Schlein should do the same so that such violence never happens again ", he concludes.

«We do not want to think that this attitude - writes in a note Tommaso Foti, group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Chamber - is dictated by the desire to "cover up" this terrible and unacceptable violence. While waiting for the judiciary to clarify the dynamics of the incident, politics make itself heard and do not try to minimize an abominable violence from every point of view".

«Not without amazement and bitterness we read in some right-wing newspapers accusations made against the Bologna Pd for the terrible news of the sexual violence that took place in the spaces where the Unity Day is held – the Bologna dem defend themselves -. The accusation leveled against us ranges from convenient silence to that, even, of wanting to hide the thing, as if it were possible. We would like to clarify one thing. For us, sexual assault is sexual assault. Wherever this happens. And we will never fail to denounce, to express our solidarity and active closeness to those who are victims of it, as well as the strongest condemnation for those who commit it".

“What is missing in the news told up to now is a passage – concludes the note -. The girl's family immediately turned to the management of the Festival to ask for help, find the boys and hand them over to the carabinieri, whom we thank. And this is what has been done. Transforming the dutiful respect and reserve, in this phase, towards those who have suffered violence due to a conniving act of silence is shameful. We don't want to turn a story like this into a matter of low propaganda and political controversy".

(Unioneonline/D)

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