Treviso, baby gang surrounds and beats 14-year-old girl for one euro

A 14-year-old boy was surrounded, beaten up and robbed by seven boys of the same age who then fled with a loot of less than one euro: 70 cents. The attack took place in Treviso, in a little frequented alley of the city centre, in broad daylight.

The boy had just come out of school and was walking home when on his way he crossed paths with a group of peers, seven young men between 15 and 16 years old, one of whom stood in front of him like a Manzonian 'bravo' and insistently asked him for money. The victim looked in his pockets and replied that he had nothing on him. At that point, he was surrounded, threatened and intimidated by others in the group, one of whom, in order to force him to respond to the demand made, gave him a couple of open-handed slaps. Frightened, the 14-year-old let the assailants put their hands in his pockets and took what they could find: seventy cents, with which the baby robbers left. Taking advantage of a moment of inattention, the student managed to break free and flee, arriving quickly at home. Distraught, the boy told his parents, who first called 113, then went to the police station to file a complaint.

In the meantime, the police had sent two 'volanti' to the scene, which, within a short time, tracked down and identified the members of the violent group. They were all taken to the police station, where they were reported to the Venice Juvenile Prosecutor's Office for threats, beatings and robbery. Some of them have allegedly already been involved in other episodes of this type. It cannot be ruled out that the victim knew them, and that the attackers therefore counted on his silence. A phenomenon, that of violent baby gangs and assaults on minors, which affects not only Treviso but also other chief towns of the Veneto region, in particular Verona and Padua. In the capital of the Marca there are about twenty episodes recorded since the beginning of the year, in most cases in the area between the railway station and the bus station. It is a problem that the forces of law and order are constantly trying to curb and that has also seen forms of protest among shopkeepers. Reports collected by the mayor of Treviso, Mario Conte, who at the end of August wrote a letter to the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, asking for 'an increase in the police force to tackle the baby gang phenomenon'.