Chieri man arrested for torture after 12-hour assault on partner in Piedmont
Carabinieri in Chieri, near Turin, arrested a man on a torture charge after his partner reported about 12 hours of physical and psychological violence that began as an agreed BDSM session.
The alleged assault
Carabinieri in Chieri, a town in the Turin area of Piedmont, arrested a man on a torture charge after his partner reported about 12 hours of violence. The couple had agreed to a sexual encounter within BDSM, a practice based on consensual exchanges of power, roles and sensations, but the man allegedly did not carry out the agreed acts. Instead, the woman was allegedly beaten, strangled and given electric shocks with a homemade taser made from a modified electric mosquito racket. Reports say he also shot her with a compressed-air pistol and used tools for extreme sexual practices with metal points and chains. The woman told investigators that she had revoked her initial consent during the session, but that the man continued anyway.
Emergency call and hospital admission
According to the reports, the woman managed to call the emergency number 112 and ask for help after hours of abuse. Health staff who reached the couple's home found her with plastic ties still tight around her ankles. She was taken by ambulance to the Chieri hospital on 3 October, where staff found injuries across her body, marks of strangulation on her neck and a facial trauma. She told the medical staff that her partner had subjected her to physical and psychological abuse for 12 hours. Given the extent of her injuries, the medical staff alerted the carabinieri.
The apartment and the search
When the carabinieri arrived, they found the man tidying the flat, visibly under the influence of drugs, which he reportedly said he had also given the woman. Investigators said the apartment was in disarray, consistent with a struggle, and that a homemade restraint device hung on a wall. The man reportedly said the device was used to keep the woman suspended by the wrists. The search seized the modified electric device, a compressed-air pistol with numerous pellets and several tools for extreme sexual practices.
Custody and the charges
A judge for preliminary investigations validated the arrest and ordered the man held in prison, at the request of the Turin prosecutor's office. He is accused of torture, and the charges must still be established during the proceedings. The woman reportedly told the emergency operator that she had been subjected to repeated sexual violence and had expressly opposed it. The allegations so far rest on her statements to doctors, the emergency operator and carabinieri, and on items seized from the home.
