Italian authorities have detained five men, including two Nigerians and three other African migrants, over the alleged abduction and repeated sexual assault of a Colombian tourist in Rome.
According to reports cited by the Daily Express, the 32-year-old woman was said to have been approached on May 19 by a man who reportedly offered to sell her hashish, a cannabis product, outside a restaurant in the Italian capital.
She was allegedly persuaded into a vehicle and driven to an abandoned structure located on the outskirts of eastern Rome, where she was held against her will for about three days.
During that period, police say she was repeatedly assaulted, drugged, and threatened by her captors.
The victim eventually managed to escape the building and was later discovered on a pavement by a passerby, half-naked and in distress, prompting a call to emergency services.
Following her rescue, Italian police launched an operation at the abandoned site and arrested five suspects. Those detained include Gambian nationals Saidykhan Lamin (29) and Karamba Kanteh (38), a 43-year-old Malian identified as Harouna Traore, and two Nigerians—Isibor Wisdom (29) and Paul Nwabueze (39).
Authorities have charged the suspects with aggravated gang rape, citing the victim’s vulnerable condition. All five remain in custody while investigations continue.
Police also confirmed that efforts are ongoing to track down additional suspects believed to have played roles in the crime, including the man who allegedly lured the woman and the driver who transported her to the location.
During the raid, officers reportedly discovered 22 undocumented migrants inside the building. Eleven of them have since been transferred to detention facilities as deportation processes begin.
