The court did not believe in the rape story because the victim 'looks like a man'
'12.03.2019'
Source: Rtvi
Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation 11 March 2019 of the year overturned the decision of the court of the city of Ancona, which in 2017 year acquitted two men accused of violence. They said that the victim did not arouse their desire, because she looked like a man.
The story began in the 2015 year, when the 22-year-old Peruvian, whose name is not named because of Italian law, told the police about the rape, tells Rtvi. She said that after classes in evening school, she came with two classmates to a bar to drink beer. After that, one of the young people, she said, put her to bed without consent, while the other did nothing to prevent it.
Doctors examined the victim and confirmed her words about rape. She also found traces of psychotropic substances in her blood. Later in court, a Peruvian and her lawyer will say that the defendants deliberately put them in a beer mug.
According to the defender of the victim of rape, after going to the police, she felt pressure from local residents, and was forced to leave for Peru because of this.
In 2016, the trial court found the men guilty. The one who directly had sexual intercourse with the victim received five years in prison. His friend, who did not prevent the crime, was given three years. The defendants appeal.
In November 2017, the judges of the Ancona Court of Appeal quashed the sentence of the court of first instance and acquitted the defendants. A college of three women judges called the victim a “cunning Peruvian woman” and suggested that she drank too much and provoked the rapist herself, and then pretended to be a victim in order to justify herself in the eyes of her mother.
The judges believed the statements of the accused that the victim did not incite their desire. They looked at her photos from the case and called the victim extremely unattractive and similar to a man. In support of this opinion, they provided a list of contacts from a mobile phone of one of the accused, where the victim was recorded under the nickname “Viking”.
A Peruvian lawyer filed a complaint with the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation after reading the motivational part of the Ancona court decision. 11 March 2019, the case was sent for review. Now he will be considered in the court of the city of Perugia.
“The worst thing in this story is the cultural message of three women judges who acquitted the defendants because they thought it unlikely they would want to rape a woman with a masculine appearance,” said member of the women's rights group Rebel Network Louise Rizzitelly. This organization 11 March organized a protest in front of the court building in Ancona, which came around 200 people. The Italian Ministry of Justice will also verify the legality of the acquittal of rapists.
