He puts his face on it, his young face disfigured on the night of Saturday 29 July, the bruises and abrasions between his neck and jaw, but his hands and arms are also marked. Maria Federico, 21, fought against a stranger who attacked her on the way home to steal her handbag and phone. And although bruised she had the upper hand, at Bovisa, she was returning from work: a waitress in a restaurant in Porta Venezia but above all a fashion design student at the Polytechnic. «I won’t give you anything, you have to go» she yelled at him, but he still, down on the sidewalk hitting her, yanking her, trampling her. 3.40, late, no one around in via Brofferio, in front of the Tigros: she below, kicking, he above, raging. A 29-year-old Egyptian man. Two police cars and an ambulance will arrive.
Mary, how are you?
«Proven, but maintaining a positive attitude. I want to continue to see the good in people, without running away from Milan: it would be a personal defeat. I have to react, even if now I have nightmares and I seem to relive those moments. It’s the first time I’ve ever been attacked. I don’t know, maybe I’ll get help from a psychologist. No to fear.”
An unexpected reflection.
“Should I lock myself in the house and never go out again?”
Do you often come home alone?
«The colleagues in the club live in different areas and I don’t have a driving license yet. I hate bothering someone. The night between Friday and Saturday, after the shift, I took the bus to Repubblica: it was full, no seats, in short, when there are people I feel safer. I was tired, maybe my attacker was on board and he decided to follow me. At 3.30 I got off at Dergano, together with 6-7 other people, not a group».
And what happens?
“I take my way home, on foot, walking on the sidewalk while texting on my phone. Then I hear footsteps behind me, close together, so I turn around to understand and I notice again the various passengers who get off the bus. After 10 minutes the same steps but more accelerated: I don’t turn around, it’s almost time to get to the gate of the house. I think I’ve lived in this area for three years and nothing has ever happened to me. But I’m starting to clutch the bag to my chest».
Then?
«I feel tugged by the shoulder strap. I react, I don’t want to hand him the bag, where I have the documents and the keys to the apartment: I live alone. We stand, a scuffle begins and I scream, scream loud. I defend myself. She has fierce eyes. Then I find myself on the ground, I don’t remember how it happened, where it hit me, in the face or in the legs. I removed something.”
A prolonged assault.
“Five minutes plenty. On the ground the worst moment, with him stepping on the wrist of the hand where I hold the phone. I try to kick, he grabs me by the legs and drags me: part of my face rubs against the asphalt, I hurt myself. I can’t stop screaming, yet no one seems to hear me. I have his hands on his nose, on his mouth, I feel suffocated. The shoulder strap of the bag breaks…».
Does he steal it?
“No. At that moment Francesco arrives, who has a nearby winery in via Brofferio. The restaurant has already lowered the shutter but he, still inside, heard my cries. He comes out with an iron rod, the kind used to raise and lower awnings. The guy runs away, I watch him. I have a panic attack, I cry. “I’m here to give you a hand,” Francesco reassures me. He gives me water. Meanwhile, another couple also arrives, a boy and a girl. She calls the police, he the ambulance. Instead, I inform a colleague, who joins me and who will keep me company at the Niguarda hospital: 30 days of prognosis ».
Then the police arrive.
“Two steering wheels. Initially I speak on the phone with an agent, I give a brief description of the aggressor. I remembered his height, about one meter and 80, and the clothes together with the tennis shoes. Shortly after they call me back because they have identified two men, not far away. I report: “He was wearing a light-coloured T-shirt”. They bring him to me while they are treating me in the ambulance: “Yes, it’s him”. So I go to the Police Headquarters to file a complaint ».
Did you know anything?
“I was told he is a man with no record and no home. And that he will undergo a trial by express. I hope you don’t come back free after a few days.’
Do you see yourself in Milan in the future?
«I’m originally from Pompeii, I’ve lived in Milan for three years and to support myself I’ve always worked in the evening as a bartender or waitress. You’ll probably stay here, it’s the city of fashion and I graduate in fashion design in September. Then I would like to do a master’s degree, specializing in knitwear, to design garments. Or do research, study trends, how people dress. In that case I would travel a lot. But now the holidays, I’m leaving tomorrow. I need to forget.”
July 31, 2023
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