(supersedes previous)Police took an Indian national who tried to abduct a five-year-old girl off a beach to spend the night in a migrant reception center after the man said he had been threatened, sources said Tuesday.
Ram Lubhaya, 43, is under investigation for attempted kidnapping after he tried to run off with a girl, 5, on August 16. Her parents chased him down and wrested the child away from him.
The man fled, but was arrested an hour later based on eyewitness descriptions. Prosecutor Giulia Bisello ordered the man - who has a criminal record, no residency permit, and currently makes a living giving henna tattoos on the beach where he also sometimes spends the night - released without questioning. It later emerged a deportation order against him expired yesterday at midnight.
Bisello's release of the suspect, while by the book because Italian law says attempted kidnapping is a non-custodial offence, sparked an uproar.
Ragusa police have requested he be taken to a center for migrant identification and expulsion (CIE) pending the investigation against him.
The interior ministry must now decide which CIE he should be held in.
Also on Tuesday, Italy's National Magistrates Association (ANM) union defended Bisello from what it said are "unacceptable attacks", and a subset of the ANM called Independent Magistrature (MI) expressed "solidarity" with their colleague.
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