The Deputy Prime Minister of Italy has urged lawmakers to adopt chemical castration as a punishment for criminals such as a group of Egyptian migrants in Sicily who allegedly gang-raped a 13-year-old girl in front of her boyfriend last month.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Matteo Salvini wrote: “Don’t come and talk to me about ‘tolerance’ or ‘error.’ In the face of horrors of this kind, there can be no clemency but only one cure: chemical castration.” The politician also urged his colleagues to vote on “the proposal presented by [Salvini’s political party] La Liga” as soon as possible.
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While the deputy PM didn’t elaborate on the details of the proposal, La Liga MEP Annalisa Tardino explained that “chemical castration is needed for rapists and pedophiles, life imprisonment for similar [instances], as well as greater security in our cities.” Immigrants who commit such crimes should be “repatriated immediately,” she added.
“In Egypt, they never would have allowed such behavior,” Tardino continued. “The safety of our children must be a priority throughout Italy.”
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Seven Egyptian teenagers aged 15 to 19 have been arrested over the alleged attack, which took place in a public toilet in Villa Bellini Park in Catania, Sicily, last Tuesday. Two of the suspects reportedly raped the 13-year-old, while the others beat up her 17-year-old boyfriend and forced him to watch.
The girl told police she was able to break free after being assaulted by the second rapist, and the couple subsequently fled. No one came to their aid during the attack, despite their screams, they said.
CCTV footage from the park allowed for the speedy apprehension of the group, according to Italian media. The girl confirmed the identities of two of the suspects, while her boyfriend was able to identify the other five. One was apprehended while attempting to flee the city.
All seven suspects had entered Italy illegally between 2021 and 2023, Italpress reported. All were living in migrant facilities for minors, even though four of them had turned 18 since their arrival.
Figures released by Italy’s Interior Ministry in 2019 show 42% of rapes in the country were committed by migrants.
Salvini, who famously cracked down on illegal immigration while serving as interior minister, has been publicly critical of unfettered immigration into Italy, declaring in September that 6,000 migrants landing on the tiny island of Lampedusa in one day threatened to “collapse Italian society as a whole.”
While Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ran for office on a platform of curtailing the migrant influx with solutions that included a “naval blockade,” she has instead presided over a record number of illegal immigrants arriving in Italy, even approving plans for the country to accept over 400,000 non-EU illegal migrants annually.