American student Amanda Knox, on trial here with her ex-boyfriend for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, told the court Friday that police had hit her twice during questioning.
''A policeman did this... twice,'' she said, miming two light blows with her hand on her neck.
Explaining why she had falsely accused Perugia-based musician Patrick Lumumba of being the murderer, Knox blamed the pressure of the interrogation, which took place between 5-6 November 2007, three days after the murder.
''I had lots of people around me and someone was shouting. They brought me things but only after I'd made a statement,'' she said.
Knox stressed that following the murder, her parents ''wanted me to go home (to Seattle) or to my aunt in Germany but I didn't want to go away''.
Both Knox and Kercher were in Perugia as exchange students.
Knox studied German and Italian at the University of Washington, while Kercher was reading European Studies at the University of Leeds.
