Nigerian Man Arrested After Girl Was Gang Raped To Death In Italy {Photos}

A Nigerian man has been arrested alongside two other migrants in connection with the murder of Desirée Mariottini, a 16-year-old girl found dead in Rome last week.

According to reports, two Senegalese nationals aged 26 and 43 were reportedly held overnight.  A third suspect, a 40-year-old Nigerian, was detained yesterday.

The three are expected to be charged with group sexual violence, voluntary manslaughter and drug dealing. All three are reported to have previous convictions for drug dealing.

Police in Rome are still hunting at least one other suspect, local media reports.
The 16-year-old girl was found dead in a derelict building used as a squat in San Lorenzo.

Investigators believe Desiree was drugged and then gang raped while unconscious before she died.

Though the exact circumstances and cause of the teenager’s death are yet to be confirmed, an autopsy revealed that she had been under the influence of drugs and had been sexually assaulted.

An anonymous call was made to emergency services at 3am on the 19th of October, local media reported.

Flowers and candles have been laid outside the building in a tribute to Mariottini, and local residents have painted the walls with red hearts and the words ‘Justice for Desirée. San Lorenzo does not forget you’.

The family’s lawyer said the day before she disappeared she had phoned her grandmother to say she was staying with a friend in Rome as she had missed her last bus.

Her friend said the teenager had been sold drugs in exchange for her mobile phone and had gone back to the traffickers in an attempt to retrieve the phone.