An evening of celebration turned into a nightmare for a 15-year-old disabled boy from Moncalieri, near Turin. According to what was reported by his mother and confirmed by initial investigations, the young man was apparently lured by some peers on a pretext and then kidnapped, tortured and thrown into the Po river. The facts date back to Halloween night, when the boy accepted the invitation of two friends, convinced he was taking part in a simple party.
Hours of violence and humiliation
As soon as he arrived at the indicated apartment, the fifteen-year-old understood that something was wrong. The alleged attackers, all boys between 15 and 16 years old, took away his mobile phone to prevent him from asking for help, then locked him in the bathroom for hours, forcefully shaved him, beat him and threatened him with a screwdriver, as well as putting out a cigarette on his ankle.
The violence would have lasted for a long time, culminating in a chilling gesture: the boy, stripped and injured, would have been forced to immerse himself in the freezing waters of the Po. Despite the torture and the shock, the young man managed to reach the shore and ask for help. He was rescued by 118 and transported to the Santa Croce hospital in Moncalieri, where he was treated for the burns and bruises he suffered.
Investigations underway
The investigations, coordinated by the Turin Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office, are now entrusted to the Carabinieri of Moncalieri. Investigators are analyzing camera footage and collecting testimonies to identify all those responsible. Among the suspects there would also be a schoolmate of the victim and other young people already known to the police for incidents of vandalism.
As reported by local sources, the crimes of kidnapping, aggravated injuries and private violence are hypothesized, with the possibility of further charges if the presence of video footage of the violence is confirmed, which the boy’s mother would have asked to be eliminated to protect him.
The episode shocked Moncalieri and the entire Turin area. Local institutions and associations are calling for urgent action against the phenomenon of baby gangs, which in recent months has shown an escalation of cruelty and lack of empathy. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother is now demanding justice for her son.
But where are the parents? Why does a boy from a community leave his mother the keys to a house where there are no adults? Why all this malice at this age towards a weak boy? Why all this? – he asks in a letter sent to the Quotidiano Piemontese. – Let me start by saying that I knew he was sleeping with his grandfather, who never arrived, and we discovered him the morning where my heart stopped! I thank God that my son is alive but now I only want JUSTICE! This is an outburst from a mother who has so much anger and pain in her heart.. and it is a message for fragile kids like my son who must not trust anyone who says they are his friend and then bullies him! Have the strength to talk to your parents and the strength to react that you are not the ones in the wrong.
A failure for all of us
And that’s it: stories like these should never happen again. When a group of teenagers ends up kidnapping, torturing and humiliating a disabled peer, it is a collective failure of all of us. Of the school, the family, the institutions and also the society that raised them in indifference.
The story exposes a profound educational void. These boys, just fifteen years old, acted with lucid violence, documenting the abuse and sharing the pain as if it were a trophy. It is the darkest effect of a digital culture that confuses empathy with entertainment, where the suffering of others becomes entertainment to be shared in chat.
But the problem does not arise from social media: it arises first, in homes where little is said, in schools where less is listened to, and in public spaces where young people feel invisible. There is also a topic that hurts more than others: disability as a target. The boy chosen is not random. It is fragile, easier to handle. In a world that celebrates inclusion only in words, this violence is a slap in the face to the rhetoric of “no one is left behind”.
We need a strong response, but not just a criminal one. Baby gangs don’t stop with repression, they stop with education. And meanwhile there is a boy who will have to learn to trust the world again. It is up to us to show him that not all is lost, and that behind so much darkness, humanity can still exist.
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