Milan investigators probe 19-year-old student's sexual violence claim at Cadorna station

What the student reported

A 19-year-old university student reported a sexual assault in Milan on Monday, 26 October. The alarm was raised at 17:11, according to one report, and police from the Milan questura were sent to the scene after the emergency number 113 was alerted. The woman, who studies at Iulm university, was taken by the 118 ambulance service with a yellow triage code to the Mangiagalli clinic, a Milan facility that specialises in care for victims of sexual violence.

Where the assault allegedly happened

Early reports placed the incident near the university, in via Filargo, between the rear of the campus and the railway embankment. The university later said the account it had received placed the incident elsewhere.

“The assault would have taken place in the mezzanine of the Cadorna metro station and not near the university, as some news outlets reported.”

Investigators say the student was taken by force into the station bathrooms, where the attack allegedly occurred. Whether she knew the man, or whether he was a stranger, has not been established.

The hours after the attack

According to what she told investigators, the student made her way by metro to the campus in a state of confusion. There she told a friend and fellow student, who persuaded her to ask the university for help. The university then alerted the Carabinieri and emergency services. At the Mangiagalli clinic she underwent medical examinations and a first psychological interview, and she was later discharged and filed a formal complaint.

Investigation and open questions

The Milan mobile squad has obtained camera footage from the area and is analysing it to check her account and reconstruct her movements. Investigators are also waiting for the results of the clinical tests carried out on the student. The reports reviewed do not mention any arrest or named suspect. Each of the accounts remains unverified until the footage and the medical results are reviewed.