Eight women targeted, requests for money accompanied by threats and, in one case, even the demand to obtain sexual services for free. This is the picture reconstructed by the carabinieri of the San Ferdinando station, in Reggino, at the end of a detailed investigative activity coordinated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Palmi, directed by the prosecutor Emanuele Crescenti.
The military carried out a precautionary custody order in prison issued by the Court of Palmi against a citizen originally from Mali, de facto homeless and previously domiciled in the tent city area. The man is seriously accused of aggravated extortion against eight women domiciled in Rosarno.
According to what was reconstructed by investigators, he would have forced the victims to pay sums of money as a condition for being able to continue living in the tent city area. Repeated and particularly serious threats would have been added to the requests for money. In some episodes, according to the prosecution, the man also used knives, broken bottles and box cutters to intimidate women.
The testimonies collected by the carabinieri and the subsequent investigative reconstructions would have outlined a situation in which the victims would have been forced to live in a persistent state of fear for their own safety. Furthermore, in one of the contested cases, the suspect allegedly demanded free sexual services, accompanying the request with the threat of possible physical retaliation. The pressure and fear of further violence finally pushed the women to abandon the tent city area in an attempt to escape the disputed conduct.
The arrest comes after a previous provision with which the man was required to report to the judicial police. According to what emerged from the investigations, this measure was also systematically violated. The Court of Palmi therefore ordered the aggravation of the measure with precautionary custody in prison.