Italian police arrest 38-year-old man in Pescia on charges of torture and attempted sexual assault

The encounter along the Pescia river

State police in the Tuscan province of Pistoia executed a precautionary detention order in prison against a 38-year-old man accused of torture and attempted sexual assault against a 20-year-old woman. The incident took place during an afternoon walk along the banks of the Pescia river, located in the municipality of Pescia. The two individuals had met several days before the incident and subsequently agreed to meet for an afternoon walk along the riverbanks. The afternoon degenerated into severe violence after the man initiated an explicit sexual approach toward the young Italian woman. When the victim firmly rejected his advances, the man refused to accept her decision and initiated a prolonged physical attack along the stretch of the river.

Mechanism of the physical assault

According to the factual reconstruction provided by state police investigators, the assailant subjected the woman to physical abuse to break her resistance and compel her to submit to sexual acts. The 38-year-old suspect dragged the 20-year-old victim directly into the river and held her submerged in the water, carrying out a controlled drowning simulation across multiple successive phases. After dragging the young woman back onto the riverbank, the attacker continued to inflict physical violence. He repeatedly whipped her legs with his belt, threw stones at her, and struck her with rocks gathered along the shore. The man also inflicted painful burn injuries by stubbing out multiple lit cigarettes directly onto her face.

Bystander intervention and emergency response

The sequence of violence was halted by the swift intervention of a passerby who was walking near the riverbank area. The bystander heard the desperate screams of the young woman calling for help and immediately dialed the 112 emergency telephone number to alert law enforcement authorities. As a patrol vehicle from the Pescia police commissariat arrived at the location, the 38-year-old assailant fled on foot to evade arrest, making a brief escape. Emergency medical responders attended to the young woman directly at the scene before providing comprehensive medical treatment. Medical evaluations later confirmed that her injuries, including burns, lacerations, and contusions, were curable within a few days.

Suspect apprehension and judicial custody

Following the attacker's escape from the riverbank, investigators from the judicial police squad at the Pescia commissariat initiated an urgent tracking operation. Detectives identified the suspect as a 38-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic residing in the neighboring town of Montecatini Terme. Police records confirmed that the individual had an established criminal history with multiple prior offences, including specific previous convictions for violent crimes. Officers tracked down and apprehended the 38-year-old suspect shortly after the attack occurred. Following formal processing under the direction of judicial authorities, police transferred him to the provincial prison facility in Pistoia on formal charges of torture and attempted sexual violence.