Foto: 123rf
The 16-year-old victim of a kidnapping and rape in Bolzano has confirmed the allegations against the alleged perpetrator. Now an opinion follows.
by Thomas Vikoler
According to her own statement, she was in the power of a man for 48 hours who (accidentally or not) picked her up in his car at a bus stop in Bolzano to take her to a techno party in Trentino.
Now the young woman – a 16-year-old from South Tyrol – has been heard as part of an evidence preservation procedure in the Hall of Mirrors of the public prosecutor’s office on Cesare-Battististrasse in Bolzano. In the presence of a psychologist, the investigating public prosecutor, the preliminary investigation judge and also Attilio Tiggiani, the defense attorney for the man who is in custody on suspicion of sexual violence and deprivation of liberty.
It is 37-year-old AP, a native of Colombia with Italian citizenship.
In the past he lived in Calabria, but most recently in Bolzano, where he worked, among other things, for the operation of the social services (BSB). In his statement to the preliminary investigation judge, he did not kidnap the 16-year-old or have consensual sex with her.
The account of the alleged victim, who confirmed her statements from the complaint from the beginning of August during the interrogation in the hall of mirrors, is completely different. Among other things, the important detail is that she drank a liquid (supposedly water) while driving in the man’s car on August 4th and then fell asleep.
To this end, the public prosecutor’s office will now commission an expert to prepare a report.
The expert is supposed to clarify whether there are traces of substances in the 16-year-old’s blood or urine, which were seized during a search of AP’s house during his arrest. The two fluids had already been removed during an examination following the young woman’s complaint.
If the test result were positive, it would be proof that the suspect had effectively rendered the young woman unable to act. But the credibility of the alleged victim’s version is also at stake.
The investigators have already evaluated the contents of digital data carriers, which were also seized from AP’s apartment.
Criminal proceedings for sexual violence against minors had been initiated against the 37-year-old in the past – in Apulia and Sicily – and showed a similar pattern to the Bolzano case. But according to lawyer Triggiani, AP has so far been criminally clean.
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