15-year-old girl raped on beach in Naples

Her gaze was empty, her beautiful smile gone. Her long brown hair, previously in a chignon, was straggly and ruffled. As she ran back to her friends, she could hear behind her the sniggers of her attackers, only slightly older than her, but whose slender physiques made them look much younger. 

At the “scoglione” beach in Marechiaro, on Sunday, a 15-year-old girl Petrarca was attacked by a 17-year-old and two-16-year-olds from the Capodichino and Forcella districts of Naples, now charged with sexual assault.

 The state prosecutor at the juvenile court, Francesco Cerullo, asked the investigating magistrate to interview the victim in order to establish her definitive, detailed version of Sunday’s horrific experience, to be used as evidence during the trial against the three youths. She had bravely begun investigations herself with the help of Facebook, determined to obtain justice.

Found on the social network

After recognizing and identifying her assailants on Facebook, she showed their photos to her mother and told her what had happened, with the help of a friend in whom she had confided. 

The ordeal was too painful for her to deal with on her own. Afterwards, she found it easier to report everything to the carabinieri, also providing names and photos to back up her brutal, horrific tale of sexual violence. Now she will have to look her attackers in the face, perhaps for the last time, in an identity parade ordered by the investigating magistrate after her interview in the presence of the judge, psychologists and the defence counsel, Matteo De Luca from the Krogh law firm. According to the lawyer, the defendants’ version of events differs significantly from the girl’s account, and he intends to present their side of the story to the investigating magistrate later today. 

Yesterday, a DNA sample was taken from one of the boys, a 16-year-old barman from Forcella, named by the victim as the only one with whom she was forced to have sexual intercourse. The sample will be compared with those taken from the victim’s body. The terrible attack took place on Sunday 28 May, when the “scoglione” beach at Marechiaro – which can be reached by swimming or fishing boats – was packed with people.

Excuse for isolating the girl

Among them was the 15-year-old girl with some friends and the three suspects, who have known each other since childhood, and also knew someone in the girl’s group of friends. After chatting, joking, and sharing a cold drink, the three boys suggested going to a shady part of the beach, out of the heat. The 15-year-old accepted, also because she had a friend with her, but at a certain point he seems to have gone off. 

Maybe it was a trap. When she was later examined by doctors in hospital, she displayed various grazes. A vaginal swab was also performed, whose results will be compared with the DNA of one of the suspects. She told them how the two boys from Capodichino first stripped her and then tried to rape her, without success. The youth from Forcella, meanwhile, managed to force her to have sexual intercourse with him, after grabbing her by the neck and pressing her face against the wall.