Woman assaulted by pusher in historic centre of Genoa

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 1 - A young Italian woman was sexually assaulted by a drug pusher in Genoa Wednesday, the fourth such case in a few weeks.
    The 28-year-old was treated in the central Piazza della Meridiana in the northwestern city after what police called a "brutal" assault.
    The man allegedly dragged her into an alley where he raped her, police said.
    She was taken to hospital where lesions compatible with rape were found and she was being operated on for other injuries sustained in the alleged assault.
    The assailant, like those in the other three recent episodes, is thought to be Senegalese.
    The other rapes of young people sexually assaulted after trying to buy drugs include a 20-year-old woman who was allegedly raped by three Senegalese men on New Year's Eve, another 20-year-old woman raped by two pushers in the central Baltimora Gardens, and, 10 days ago, a 15-year-old boy forced into sex with three men in the area where Wednesday's alleged attack took place.
    Drug pushing by predominantly Senegalese gangs is reportedly rife in the central alleys of the northern Italian port city.
    (ANSA).