A serious episode of violence has shaken Cosenza. Cristofer, known to all as Cristian, the homeless man who has lived on Corso Mazzini for years together with his dogs, was brutally attacked during the night. Rescued and transported to hospital, he is in serious condition.
The news, accompanied by photos showing him with a swollen face, quickly made the rounds on social media, generating dismay and solidarity. The Regional Observatory on Poverty Calabria intervened on the matter, through its president Antonio Belmonte, who spoke of an “intolerable wound for the entire Cosenza community”.
«Cristofer is a polite and respectful man, a friend of everyone. Hitting him means attacking human dignity and our very civilization”, states Belmonte, underlining how the episode represents “a symbol of the deterioration of civic values” and an alarm on the level of safety of the most vulnerable.
The Observatory asks the authorities to identify those responsible as soon as possible and invites everyone to “break the wall of indifference, strengthening a culture of attention towards those who live in conditions of extreme poverty”.
The community rallies around Cristian, with the hope of a speedy recovery and the necessary support to deal with what happened.