Harassment of a thirteen-year-old in Turin: the Review orders prison for the 42-year-old

The 42-year-old accused of having abused the minor girl had been subjected to an obligation to sign by the Turin investigating judge. The prosecutor's office had appealed the decision and, after yesterday's hearing, the Court of Review accepted the prosecutor's request to order the precautionary custody measure in prison for the man

Pre-trial detention in prison has been ordered for the man accused of molesting a 13-year-old girl in Turin. The 42-year-old, of Bangladeshi origins, was released from prison 48 hours after the arrest by the investigating judge who had ordered him to sign daily to the judicial authority. A decision that sparked controversy and led the prosecutor's office to appeal to the Turin Review Court. The review judge, after yesterday's hearing, accepted the measure requested by the prosecutor, ordering the measure of precautionary custody in prison and replacing it with the obligation to sign.

Harassment

The 13-year-old victim was molested in the Borgo Vittoria neighbourhood, on the northern outskirts of Turin, at the end of August when she went to buy a snack for herself and her brothers in the minimarket where the 42-year-old works as a clerk. After the girl's complaint, the man was arrested but a few hours later released by the investigating judge who did not validate the arrest and ordered the obligation to sign as the only precautionary measure. A new hearing is scheduled for September 17, again before the Court of Review, which concerns the appeal presented by the man's lawyer regarding the investigating judge's order.

The controversies

The case, after the 42-year-old's release from prison by the investigating judge, took on national importance to the point that Justice Minister Carlo Nordio and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also intervened. What sparked the controversy was the decision of the judge for preliminary investigations in Turin for whom there was no risk of escape: the investigating judge, in fact, had not validated the arrest considering the obligation to report daily to the police to be sufficient as the man had no criminal record, during the validation hearing he had stated that he was "sorry" and had appeared to be "collaborative" with the officers. The reaction of the public prosecutors who presented the appeal to the Review was immediate, underlining the danger of escape and the risk of repetition of the crime.

Speeches by Nordio and Meloni

The reaction of the Turin prosecutor's office was immediately followed by the intervention of Minister Nordio who announced the sending of inspectors to the Turin court to "acquire any useful assessment". Shortly afterwards the Prime Minister's comment also arrived. "We have written the laws, and they are more severe than ever. The police forces did their duty, in a few hours, very well. The Prosecutor's Office asked for the harshest measure. The whole chain worked. And then a measure arrives that breaks it in forty-eight hours, and we can't do anything, except send the Ministry inspectors, which is what we are doing", Meloni had written on social media, adding: “We move forward. Rules, men, means, resources. To the end. But like this it's really difficult."