US Students Accuse Italian Police of Rape in Florence

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ROME – Florence prosecutors are investigating allegations by two U.S. students that they were raped by Carabinieri policemen who escorted them home in a patrol car from a nightclub.

Authorities said Friday the 21-year-old students were questioned by prosecutors for several hours a day earlier about their allegations. The women accused the officers of raping them early Thursday morning in their apartment building. The two paramilitary officers were reportedly waiting to be questioned.

Italian media say three patrol cars went to a nightclub to investigate a fight. Two cars left after calm was restored, but the third remained. The women, who reportedly spent the evening in the nightclub, told authorities that the officers drove them to their apartment building and raped them.

The women were in Florence to study Italian.