- The woman was raped in the ER of the Vizzolo Predabissi hospital near Milan
A woman who was raped while lying on a stretcher in an emergency department in Italy has reportedly taken her own life by jumping from a hospital window.
The 22-year-old was awaiting treatment in the Vizzolo Predabissi hospital near Milan when she was sexually assaulted between Monday and Tuesday, local media reports.
She told nurses, who swiftly called the police, around 4am: ‘Help, I was raped’, according to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Serra.
The suspect, a 28-year-old warehouse worker, was arrested just hours later as he was sleeping on a stretcher in the ER.
Around 8.30pm on Tuesday, the woman is said to have jumped from a window on the fourth floor of the hospital. Despite attempts by medics to save her life, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 22-year-old said she was awaiting treatment in the Vizzolo Predabissi hospital (pictured) near Milan when she was raped in the night from May 27 to May 28, local media reports
The suspect denied the rape allegation and told a local court that the sexual encounter had been consensual.
He said that he ‘didn’t force anyone’ and that they chatted and shared a cigarette together before they started kissing.
He could not remember how he got to the hospital and told investigators he had drunk a lot of alcohol with some friends and had smoke a few joints, according to local reports.
The 28-year-old was reportedly lying drunk on a bench when his concerned friends called an ambulance.
He is said to have met the 22-year-old victim for the first time when he arrived at the hospital, where he was reportedly put on a stretcher near her.
The local prosecutor has ordered on autopsy of the woman’s body, while investigators are combing through CCTV footage from the emergency department to find out what exactly transpired.
The suspect reportedly remains in precautionary custody in prison.
A spokesperson for Vizzolo Predabissi said in a statement: ‘The whole hospital is still in shock.’