On New Year’s Eve in Milan, Laura Barbier, a Belgian student, and her friends experienced a 10-minute mass sexual assault by a group of approximately 30 individuals. Laura recounted being groped, with some attackers reaching under clothing. Another victim, Imogen, also reported being assaulted and described a chaotic scene where she fought to help a fellow victim. Italian prosecutors are investigating the incident, sparked outrage across Italy, Belgium, and the UK, prompting Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to demand updates on the investigation. Victims have criticized media misrepresentation of the attackers’ identities and motives, urging unity against violence.
A student victim of a New Year’s Eve mass sexual assault in Milan has told how she and her friends were assaulted for 10 minutes during the horrific incident.
Laura Barbier, one of six Belgians who went to Piazza del Duomo to watch fireworks with the British victims, said a group of about 30 people grabbed her hand and touched her under her clothes during the assault. It reminded me of “Nightmare”.
She told Belgian news agency Sudinfo that three of the four female students were sexually assaulted, and one had her breasts and buttocks groped.
They “put their hands in my pants,” the 20-year-old claimed. “I went so far… there were so many people around me that I couldn’t move.”
Italian prosecutors have now launched an investigation into the allegations of gang sexual violence and have created a file “based on a number of collected press articles.”
This is how one British student who was part of the group bravely told MailOnline how he was assaulted by an unknown “organized” group over the New Year.
Imogen, identified only by her first name, shared a horrifying account of being “grabbed and pulled back” by strangers in the crowd and tried to sexually assault her by hand in a separate rape allegation. spoke.
She heroically tried to save another British woman who was allegedly being sexually assaulted by a mob, and tried to free the other victim before Imogen fought the men in self-defense. .
The 19-year-old told how police initially ignored the charges, but then left her bleeding as she struggled with her attackers. They then consoled her, telling her it was a “known issue” and claiming the attacker was a Bangladeshi man.
Laura Barbier (right), 20, a student from Liege, Belgium, was traveling to Milan, Italy, with five friends aged between 20 and 21 to celebrate the New Year. They joined a British group who claimed they too were attacked by a group of men aged between 20 and 40.
Video of Piazza del Duomo on New Year’s Eve shows a chaotic scene
Heroic Brit Imogen (left) tried to save another British woman from being sexually assaulted by a group of attackers while being attacked herself.
Italian investigators are continuing to seek dialogue with the Belgian victims in order to progress the case, and have been given access to CCTV footage.
British victim Imogen told MailOnline she is currently in the process of filing a legal complaint through the Italian Embassy in the UK, and investigators are currently speaking with other women to understand the full extent of the attack. He said he was doing it.
She said there were no police present at the scene when they arrived and there was no designated area for fireworks.
Video footage from the scene showed men wearing balaclavas setting off fireworks into the crowd before and after the attack.
Laura’s testimony echoed Imogen’s account of how the attackers grabbed and restrained members of the group, some touching them under their clothes.
“We were touched on our bodies, on our clothes, and some of us, including myself, inside our clothes,” Laura told Sudinfo.
She said even though she was wearing a jacket and scarf, she managed to get under her clothes.
Imogen said she was wearing a long dress, long coat and scarf at the time of the attack.
The heartbreaking testimony has sparked outrage in Italy, Belgium and the UK, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni now demanding answers for the victims.
Italian media reported that Meloni personally contacted the Milan Prefecture to request a step-by-step update on the investigation.
“Three of us four girls were sexually assaulted. Our friends groped our breasts and touched our buttocks. [The men] Put your hand inside my pants. It went very far,” Laura (pictured) told Belgian broadcaster RTL
British victim Imogen, who has since returned to her studies in the UK, shared her account of the attack on MailOnline and Sudinfo last week.
She said the group began to feel uncomfortable when she began receiving unwanted attention from men in the crowd, and claimed that a man groped her and tried to pull her dress as they passed through the square.
As the midnight countdown began, the boys in the group headed out to record their New Year’s celebrations.
At that moment, Imogen said, “I was immediately grabbed from behind and pulled away from my friends.”
“They grabbed my arms and hands so I couldn’t fight back and was surrounded by a group of people in what appeared to be an organized attack. Multiple men started groping me at the same time and another The man tried to pull up my dress.
“As I panicked and fought for freedom, it became clear that they were enjoying my suffering, and this only excited my attackers.”
Imogen claims that another man tried to sexually assault her and that she heard one of them mention rape.
“At this point, my fight became a fight for survival,” she said.
She described a “blur” as she managed to free her arm and screamed before being discovered by her friends.
She claimed the men poured an unidentified liquid on her, stung her eyes and nose, and made it difficult for her to breathe.
“We started fighting blindly as the crowd set off smoke bombs and threw firecrackers in an attempt to harm us,” she claimed.
When they were finally able to escape, the attackers allegedly pursued the group and began fighting the men.
Imogen said she was grabbed again and pulled away from the group, where she heard another British woman next to her also being restrained and sexually assaulted by the group.
The woman was freed after a brave teenager tried to intervene.
When she finally found police, she said they were first told there was “nothing they could do.”
When she showed them the attack cuts, their attitudes changed, she said.
Video shows people gathering to celebrate the New Year in Milan, lighting smoke bombs in the crowd
Police arrive at Milan’s cathedral on December 31st. Authorities are said to have designated certain areas as “red zones” to tighten security during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Investigators are currently looking into what happened in Milan on New Year’s Eve.
Italian media have shared conflicting and speculative reports about the attacker’s background and motives.
Imogen said she found it “disgusting” when people used our traumatic stories to advance a political agenda.
“I want people to understand that many of the accounts I read are completely false.
“I will not allow my sexual attack to become an opportunity to divide people. I am angry that this was allowed to happen during a joyous celebration and this is a moment for women and Italians to unite. .”
Italian news agency ANSA reported that in response to claims made by Italian police at the scene, the men were only identified as second-generation North African men.
“It is a complete and blatant lie that our group was attacked by men carrying Palestinian flags,” Imogen told Sudinfo.
“I am very angry to read so many articles that indirectly blame Islam and claim that it is a religious issue, claiming that our attacks are ‘taharash gamea’,” Imogen said. said.
“The evil we experienced that night was that there was no religion at all. I had no other motive than to do so.”