In a harrowing incident in Rome, a man was reportedly restrained and compelled to witness the assault of his 18-year-old fiancée after their car was struck by a group of migrants, according to local police.

The couple had parked their vehicle in a secluded area of Tor Tre Teste, a park located in the eastern part of the city, when they were suddenly besieged by the group. At the time of the attack, the couple was reportedly unclothed.

Authorities stated that the assailants shattered the car window, forcibly removing the 24-year-old man from the vehicle first. They then dragged the young woman out as she attempted to shield herself with a piece of clothing.

The man recounted to officers that two of the attackers held him down while his fiancée was pulled a short distance away and subjected to a brutal assault.

Despite his desperate cries for help and pleas for the attack to cease, the man was unable to free himself from his captors and could only watch helplessly as the assault unfolded.

After the attack, all three perpetrators fled the scene. The couple, both Italian, then contracted police and filed a report. 

According to the authorities, the couple were terrified and confused. Cops also added that it was possible that there were up to five attackers involved. 

Officers have since arrested three Moroccan men on charges of gang rape and robbery. 

Two were traced by officers from Rome’s Flying Squad unit and detained only days after the October 25 attack, and a third was picked up in Venice a few days ago. 

Investigators said the arrests were kept quiet while they continued gathering evidence.  

Italian police patrolling the streets of Rome. Investigators are probing after a man was forced to watch as migrants raped his 18-year-old fiancée

Migrants crowd as they wait to be transferred in September 2023. It is not suggested that any of the people in this photograph were involved in the incident

Fingerprints lifted from the shattered window match the men who have been arrested, according to investigators.

Officers also said the attack began as a robbery, as the couple’s belongings were taken during the assault. 

Confirming that police are still looking into whether additional men were involved, a detective said that the ‘investigation isn’t closed’. 

In November last year, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni linked migrants, particularly undocumented ones, to the country’s increase in sexual violence and rape. Before she was elected, she posted a gruesome video of a woman being raped by a migrant on a pavement in Piacenza.  

Recent gang-rape cases involving immigrants have led to public protests against illegal mass migration and violence against women.

In February 2024, a helpless 13-year-old girl was brutally raped for half an hour by a group of Egyptian migrants in Catania after she was dragged to a public bathroom. 

She claimed two, both minors, sexually assaulted her as the rest of the gang restrained her. 

In another case in October 2024, an asylum seeker was alleged to have impregnated a 10-year-old girl after he raped her. The 28-year-old migrant from Bangladesh is said to have attacked the girl at a migrant centre in Lombardy. 

Italy is not the only European country experiencing an uptick in sexual violence by migrants. Last month, police arrested five Syrian men after a teenage girl was gang-raped and threatened with a taser. 

In May this year, a pair of Algerian asylum seekers were jailed after they lured teenagers aged 14 and 15 into an abandoned building before plying them with ecstasy, holding them at gunpoint, and raping them.  

The younger girl suffered such severe injuries that she had bruises along her ribs. 

Back in 2019, Ali Basher, a failed Iraqi asylum seeker, was sentenced to life behind bars for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in Germany. 

In 2019, Ali Basher, whose asylum claim had been rejected, was jailed for raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl in Germany

The case outraged Germans and sparked a nationwide debate on the country’s immigration policy. 

Meanwhile, last week, politicians in Italy moved to expand the definition of sexual violence to include non-consensual acts. It removes the responsibility of the victim to show physical signs of abuse. 

Advocates have hailed the amendment, saying it will make it easier for people to report such crimes. 

It comes after the outcome of several rape cases sparked outrage.