In a crime which has sickened people all over Italy, a woman doctor on duty as guardia medica [emergency doctor] was attacked and raped in the Sicilian town of Scicli [Ragusa] last Wednesday – Thursday night.
The doctor, aged 53, was alone in the old palazzo where the emergency surgery is located. The building is not equipped with a video entry system or other security measures.
At about 8.30 pm two North African men arrived at the surgery and asked for medicines, which the doctor gave them. They left but in the early hours one of them returned and rang the doorbell. The doctor did not open the glass door fully but just enough to be able to talk to the man and find out what he needed. However, this enabled the man to force the door open.
He then attacked the doctor so violently that her leg was broken, raped her and, before fleeing, took the 200 euros that she had in her handbag.
The doctor herself raised the alarm and she was admitted to hospital, first in Scicli and then in the larger city of Modica. She was discharged on Thursday evening.
Outrage has been expressed not only in the Province of Ragusa, known as the safest in Sicily, but also at national level. The doctor’s colleagues have expressed anger that she was alone in an unprotected building and this issue, along with others, will be looked at in the coming days.
The doctor has given the Police a good description of her attacker and the authorities are confident that he will be found.
The North African community has also expressed its shock and sorrow and a group of Tunisians will join a silent, torchlit procession in Scicli on the night of Wednesday 24th March. This procession is being held so that citizens can express their solidarity with the doctor and her family along with their repudiation of all forms of violence.
The Tunisian Ambassador to Italy will meet the doctor this week.
