Twitter pulls down anti-immigration rape video shared by Italy's frontrunner Giorgia Meloni

The microblogging site, Twitter has recently pulled a controversial blurred video of an asylum-seeker sexually assaulting a Ukrainian woman which was posted by the woman likely to be elected as Prime Minister of Italy next month.

Giorgia Meloni, who heads the Brothers of Italy party, posted the video as a part of a campaign promise to 'secure the cities'.

The blurred video shared on Twitter, doesn't reveal the identities of the victim or the suspect, however, has full audo including woman's cries for help. This has drawn scorn from Meloni's political opponents and praise from her center-right coalition partners- Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini, whose anti-immigrant stance has drawn criticism from human rights groups.

The video was reportedly captured by someone in an apartment above the sidewalk where the incident took place, and it first appeared on a newspaper website before it was reposted by Meloni as part of her campaign.

Meloni heads a center-right coalition that looks to handily win snap elections held on September 25 after the dramatic fall of Mario Draghi's administration in July.

The populist coalition has campaigned on Trump-style conservative promises that includes a strong anti-immgration platform and also hints that abortion rights could be diminished if they win the elctions.

If election, Meloni would become the first female Prime Minister in Italy.

Published on: Tuesday, August 23, 2022, 06:24 PM IST