VILLARICCA, Italy – A 17-year-old Malian immigrant was allegedly subjected to a racially motivated assault while volunteering at a local festival, leading to charges against three Italian men and prompting condemnation from migrant advocacy groups.
The incident occurred on the evening of 10 September 2025 during the traditional Festa del Giglio (Ballad of the Lilies) in Villaricca, a suburb of Naples.
N’Tji, the victim who arrived in Italy a year ago after a perilous journey from Mali via Tunisia and Lampedusa, was assisting with crowd control as part of a civil protection volunteer team.
According to reports, he politely informed a couple – a woman pushing a pram accompanied by her husband – that they could not cross a safety cordon due to overcrowding.
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The situation escalated when the husband allegedly punched N’Tji in the face, causing a bleeding wound, while the woman and others present joined in with physical and verbal abuse. Maddalena Fusco, the coordinator of the juvenile community housing N’Tji, attempted to intervene but was also targeted.
“This lady accompanied by her husband, with a child in a stroller, started insulting him after N’Tji explained that it was not possible to pass because there were already too many people,” Fusco recounted. “The husband punched the boy in the face, causing a wound that started to bleed. No one came to our aid.”
N’Tji, who required hospital treatment for injuries expected to heal within seven days, later expressed his distress, stating: “They beat me because I am black. There were other kids with me, but they were all white, and they only picked on me.”
He added, “It’s a racist country, I want to escape,” highlighting his shaken faith in Italy as a welcoming nation. Fusco urged the attackers to apologise, saying: “Look this boy in the eyes and have the courage to say ‘we were wrong’, especially since you are also parents.”
Following an investigation involving analysis of surveillance footage, local Carabinieri under Commander Pietro Amati identified the perpetrators: a 36-year-old man with a prior criminal record and two 31-year-old men without previous convictions, all residents of Villaricca.
The three have been reported and face charges of assault and bodily injury in concert, aggravated by racial hatred.
This attack is the second reported racially motivated incident in the northern Naples area in recent weeks, following a similar assault on a 27-year-old Senegalese man in nearby Giugliano at the end of August.
The Festa del Giglio, a longstanding folklore event celebrating community and tradition, has been marred by violence, raising questions about underlying racial tensions in regions traditionally seen as hospitable.
In response, the Concerned Nigerians and Migrants Forum (CNMF) issued a press release on 18 September 2025, expressing solidarity with N’Tji and condemning the assault as a product of a “climate of social and political hatred” fuelled by right-wing rhetoric, particularly from figures like Matteo Salvini, who they accuse of scapegoating immigrants.
“This act of violence, it is a direct result of a climate fuelled for years by figures from the Italian right, and particularly by the divisive rhetoric of Matteo Salvini,” the statement read.
The CNMF called on institutions to ensure protection and equal dignity for all, reaffirming that “no act of hate will stop the contribution that migrants make to our country every day.
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Salvini, the leader of the League party and a vocal critic of immigration policies, has not publicly commented on the incident. Efforts to find statements from his office or related parties yielded no results.
Authorities have not released further details on the ongoing investigation, but community leaders have called for unity and anti-racism initiatives to prevent future occurrences. N’Tji, meanwhile, remains in the community, though traumatised and reluctant to venture out.
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