RIMINI - A young German tourist allegedly has been raped by two Italian police officer cadets while she was on holiday, investigators said Monday.

 The two trainee cops are aged 21 and 23 and attended police school in Brescia. For now, they’ve been suspended by the director of the school, but they risk being expelled and never being allowed to complete their police training.

 The two alleged offenders did not deny the event with the young girl, but claimed that it was consensual. While the investigation is ongoing, they have not been arrested.

 The alleged victim, a German student on holiday with two friends, had met the boys a couple of days before the incident near to the youth hostel where they were staying. When it started to rain heavily one afternoon, the group of five sought shelter in the hostel. According to the victim, at a certain point she was alone in the hostel room with the two boys and that is when they forced her to have sex with them.

 As soon as she was able to escape from the room, she recounted the incident to her friends who in turn reported it to the hostel receptionist and the police were called.

 Just a few hours later, the two men were identified by the local police force. The investigation went on until four in the morning in the presence of the deputy prosecutor Davide Ercolani, who heard the testimonies of the victim, witnesses and the accused.  

 A public statement on the matter from the commune of Rimini reads: “We reiterate our total solidarity, support and dedication to helping every woman who is the object and victim of any kind of violence, starting from the most brutal and cowardly: sexual violence.

 “If the investigation finds the accused to in fact be guilty, the commune of Rimini, acting on behalf of the entire Rimini community as we have done for similar cases in the past, will constitute a civil action against those responsible.”

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