A ‘well-known photographer’ locked himself in an anorexic woman’s room in an Italian hospital and raped her before trying to assault a second victim.
The 36-year-old man, who has been described by local media as a ‘well-known Afghan photographer’, attacked the two women at the Molinette hospital in Turin on May 23.
He reportedly went to the emergency department with his girlfriend showing signs of anxiety and a panic attack.
The man, a refugee from Afghanistan, was swiftly admitted and taken to the hospital’s psychiatry department, to a wing reserved for those with eating disorders or mild mental illnesses, according to local media.
Since there was no free bed on the ward, he was placed on a temporary one in the corridor.
The lights dimmed at 9pm and the man used the opportunity to sneak into the room of an anorexic woman, 35.
He allegedly locked the door, blocked the entrance with a cabinet and removed the alarm bell from the wall before attacking the woman and raping her.
The woman tried to scream during the attack, but the man covered her mouth.
The 36-year-old man, who has been described by local media as a ‘well-known Afghan photographer’, attacked the two women at the Molinette hospital (entrance pictured) in Turin, Italy on May 23
He then fled into the room of another woman and locked the door, but the 66-year-old managed to scare the alleged attacker away before he could assault her.
She screamed for help at the same time the first woman reactivated her alarm bell, alerting hospital staff.
The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the Afghan man.
The hospital’s safety measures are also being investigated after staff allegedly failed to prevent the attack.
A psychiatric assessment of the man established that while he is ‘socially dangerous’, he is incapable of understanding his actions, Le Corriere reports.
‘The experts provide a series of hypotheses, from schizophrenia to bipolarism, up to an acute episode linked to the use of cannabinoids,’ the man’s lawyer, Elena Negri, said.
‘In essence, there is no clear diagnosis. Our requests to investigate further, also acquiring the defendant’s current medical records, were rejected.’
Negri had requested the investigation into the hospital and ‘those who did not intervene that night or intervened in an inadequate manner’.
The hospital’s safety measures are being investigated after staff allegedly failed to prevent the attack
The man is due to stand trial in January.
Meanwhile, he was transferred from the hospital to a residence for the execution of security measures (REMS), where mental health patients who committed crimes are held.
The Afghan man was allowed to participate in a photography exhibition recently.
