Matteo Salvini, Italy’s hardline interior minister, has called for three young men who allegedly gang-raped an American teenager in Sicily to be chemically castrated if convicted.
The three men have been arrested on suspicion of raping the 18-year-old, who was working as a babysitter in Catania, on the east coast of Sicily.
The three men allegedly met her in a bar, plied her with drinks and then offered to escort her to another bar.
Instead, they reportedly bundled her into a car, drove her to a deserted street and raped her in turn.
The men allegedly filmed the abuse and later sent her a clip of the footage via mobile phone.
“For the worms in Catania who raped a tourist, no leniency – chemical castration,” Mr Salvini, a prolific user of social media, wrote on his Twitter account.
The alleged gang rape took place on March 15, when the young woman was on a night out with a friend and met the local men in a bar.
They were named as Roberto Mirabella, 20, Agatino Spampinato, 19, and Salvatore Castrogiovanni, 19. The men deny the charges.
The American, who had been working in Catania for three months, has left Italy and flown home to the United States, according to her lawyer, Mirella Viscuso.
She would have to either return to Italy for the trial of her alleged attackers or provide testimony from the US, the lawyer said.
Mr Salvini has called for chemical castration for rapists and pedophiles in the past, both as interior minister and before the general election last March, when he was on the campaign trail.