The minimarket in Turin where a 42-year-old Bengali man sexually abused a 13-year-old minor girl was closed on Wednesday, Italian outlets reported.
After the closure, the words “Infamous Pedophile,” were written on its shutter doors by a local man furious that the guilty migrant shopkeeper was released from police custody after he said “sorry.”
The store, located in the Piedmont region’s capital city, was the center of a heinous crime after an unnamed Bengali national that works there was detained for sexually abusing a minor girl on Saturday. The girl testified to the police that she had gone to the store to buy a juice drink, and detailed that it was not the first time that the man had tried to assault her.
Despite surveillance camera footage obtained from the store corroborating the victim’s testimony — and the police discovering additional footage revealing that the Bengali man had also assaulted an adult woman on that same day — a local judge ordered the man’s release just two days after his detention because the offender alleged he was “sorry” before the court.
The judge’s controversial decision prompted widespread outrage in Italy, including from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other members of her government. Meloni, and Justice Minister Carlo Nordio pointed out that due to the separation of powers in Italy, the executive is only allowed to send inspectors to Turin to investigate what occurred. According to Italian outlets, the court simply demanded that the offender regularly reports to local authorities. The Office of the Turin District Attorney’s Office is reportedly in the process of appealing the judge’s ruling.
The Italian newspaper La Stampa reports that local police officers ordered the temporarily closure of the store as an initial precautionary measure to ascertain the store’s management and compliance with alcohol regulations, among other investigations.
The newspaper pointed out that shortly after the closure, the words “Infamous pedophile, in the hands of the people” were written with a green spray paint across the store’s shutter doors. Footage published by the local outlet Torino Today on Facebook appears to show a man using spray paint to write the words in the shutter doors.
The man seen in the video spoke with Torino Today on Thursday morning and claimed responsibility for the act. The outlet withheld the man’s name and simply identified him as a client of the store. The man emphasized that he is aware that he risks a vandalism complaint against him for writing the words with the spray paint, but affirmed, “I don’t care.”
He reportedly further justified his actions by stating that the goal of writing “Infamous Pedophile” in the shutter is to give “voice to the sense of injustice” felt by the local community following the Bengali man’s release and the lax conditions imposed upon the offender.
Per Rai News, the 42-year-old Bengali man justified his behavior and sexual assault of the girl by claiming he had drunk “two tequilas.” According to Corriere della Sera, the Bengali man was employed “off the books.” Two additional stores linked to the same owner have reportedly been identified by the police.
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