Bangladeshi street vendors 'attacked

(ANSA) - Ascoli Piceno, July 4 - Two Bangladeshi street vendors of roses have reportedly been attacked along the beachfront avenue in Porto d'Ascoli near Ascoli Piceno, a coastal town in the central Marche region.
    The attackers were allegedly very young men who were said to have asked the victims whether they knew the Gospels, possibly some sort of reaction to an attack in the Bangladeshi capital on Saturday, in which Bangladeshi attackers killed people who did not know Quranic verses. The incident was reported on Monday by the Corriere Adriatico, which said that about 10 people witnessed it. The two Bangladeshi men, who were at the beach to sell roses, allegedly approached the youths, who were said to have initially begun to make fun of them prior to the situation degenerating after one of the group was said to have asked the men whether they knew the Gospels, followed by a kick and shoving. The police were called but both the attackers and the foreigners left the scene rapidly. No confirmation has been received from the Carabinieri, police or traffic wardens, but reports of the incident have sparked a storm on social networks. The students association Robin Hood has launched a campaign and petition on Facebook "to express solidarity with those insulted and to show that San Benedetto does not approve of or tolerate these actions". "This is a very serious incident for the city of San Benedetto," the association said. "Racism and Fascism are not part of our community. It is unacceptable that people are still being persecuted in the twenty-first century simply for the fact of having a different religion, despite the fact that the constitution guarantees freedom of religion to all". "This is a shameful action born of ignorance and racist violence that we cannot accept and that we want to firmly condemn," said Paola Giovannozzi, head of the Ascoli Piceno section of the CGIL union, which supports the petition.