Milan, 10 July (LaPresse) – The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested pre-trial detention for the 27-year-old man of Algerian origin who was arrested by the local police on Thursday for punching a 23-year-old Moroccan woman in the face and injuring her face with a small knife on the platform of the yellow metro line at Piazza Duomo. The duty public prosecutor, Simona Ferraiuolo, is investigating him on suspicion of causing permanent disfigurement to the face (“deformation of a person’s appearance through permanent facial injuries”), bodily harm and resisting a public official. No aggravating circumstances have been alleged, and the request to the investigating magistrate was based on the precautionary need to prevent a repeat offence and to stop him from absconding. The Public Prosecutor’s files contain no evidence to suggest that the 27-year-old, who was apprehended by police officers in Via Torino following a chase, shouted at the victim, “What are you looking at? I’m a man and a Muslim,” before attacking her. Neither the young woman nor the witnesses interviewed reported this statement. According to the investigators’ reconstruction of events, the foreign national, who is homeless, is said to have told her, “Why are you looking at me?”. The woman, who was treated at the Policlinico hospital and discharged with a prognosis of 10 days’ recovery, reportedly replied that she was not looking at him but was talking to a friend, pretending to be acquainted with a couple standing near her on the underground platform. This response was allegedly followed in quick succession by him spitting at her, punching her and wounding her on the cheek and lip with a small knife. The weapon has not been found; it was probably discarded by the attacker as he fled. He is due to appear before the investigating magistrate in the coming hours for a preliminary hearing.
Milan: 23-year-old attacked on the metro; prison sentence sought for the assailant
Milan, 10 July (LaPresse) – The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested pre-trial detention for the 27-year-old man of Algerian origin who was arrested by the local police on Thursday for punching a 23-year-old Moroccan woman in the face and injuring her face with a small knife on the platform of the yellow metro line at Piazza Duomo. The duty public prosecutor, Simona Ferraiuolo, is investigating him on suspicion of causing permanent disfigurement to the face (“deformation of a person’s appearance through permanent facial injuries”), bodily harm and resisting a public official. No aggravating circumstances have been alleged, and the request to the investigating magistrate was based on the precautionary need to prevent a repeat offence and to stop him from absconding. The Public Prosecutor’s files contain no evidence to suggest that the 27-year-old, who was apprehended by police officers in Via Torino following a chase, shouted at the victim, “What are you looking at? I’m a man and a Muslim,” before attacking her. Neither the young woman nor the witnesses interviewed reported this statement. According to the investigators’ reconstruction of events, the foreign national, who is homeless, is said to have told her, “Why are you looking at me?”. The woman, who was treated at the Policlinico hospital and discharged with a prognosis of 10 days’ recovery, reportedly replied that she was not looking at him but was talking to a friend, pretending to be acquainted with a couple standing near her on the underground platform. This response was allegedly followed in quick succession by him spitting at her, punching her and wounding her on the cheek and lip with a small knife. The weapon has not been found; it was probably discarded by the attacker as he fled. He is due to appear before the investigating magistrate in the coming hours for a preliminary hearing.
