- The girl was raped in an empty outdoor theatre in the town of Molfetta
- She was harrassed after classmate posted phone number on Facebook
- Her schoolfriend was reportedly acting in revenge for a petty quarrel
- Four men have been arrested in connection with the alleged assault
- A fifth man, who was under 18 at the time, is also under investigation
A 14-year-old Italian girl was allegedly gang raped after a classmate hijacked her Facebook profile to post that she was ‘available to anyone’.
The teenager was dragged into an empty outdoor theatre in her hometown of Molfetta, near Bari, in the south east of the country, and raped repeatedly, after the gang of ten assumed that she was ‘easy’, prosecutors say.
The schoolgirl had trustingly left her Facebook page unlocked, allowing a school friend, reportedly acting in revenge for a petty quarrel, to paste pictures of her, along with her phone number.
Horrific: The teenager was dragged into an empty outdoor theatre in her hometown of Molfetta (pictured), near Bari, and raped repeatedly, after the gang of ten assumed that she was 'easy', prosecutors say
Afterwards the teen was immediately besieged by phone calls harassing her.
The alleged attack took place in April 2012 when the group, who she knew by sight, approached her and persuaded her to get on a scooter.
They took her to the theatre where she was brutally assaulted by four of the men, while the others kept watch, prosecutors say.
Deputy prosecutor Francesco Giannella called it ‘a sordid, tragic attack’.
Link: The schoolgirl had trustingly left her Facebook page unlocked, allowing a school friend, reportedly acting in revenge for a petty quarrel, to paste pictures of her, along with her phone number
He said: ‘It could be a random attack but some months ago somebody made a fake profile of the girl saying she was “very available”'.
He added: ‘Young people don’t understand the dangerous consequences of the misuse of certain tools such as social networks.’
The girl was too distraught to go to the police immediately but threw away her phone SIM card to put an end to the harassment.
She was then allegedly raped a second time by a boyfriend, which prompted her to report the alleged attacks.
Four men aged between 20 and 25 have been arrested and are detained under house arrest in connection with the alleged assault, while a fifth, who was under 18 at the time, is under investigation.
Earlier this year a 21-year-old man from Gloucester was jailed for four years for grooming and raping a 14-year-old girl after she put her number on Facebook.
And last year a 19-year-old from Manchester who police called 'every parent's worst nightmare' was ordered to spend six years in a young offenders institution for befriending and raping girls as young as 12 on the site.
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