Schoolgirl, 14, 'dragged behind a bush and raped'

A schoolgirl was allegedly dragged behind a bush and raped while waiting for the bus in Italy.

The girl, aged 14, was allegedly raped by a 40-year-old Pakistani man in the Casanova district in the northern Italian city of Bolzano at 7.30pm on October 25.

The teenager, from Bolzano, had headphones on and was listening to music while as she was sitting in the bus shelter waiting for the next bus when the man approached the girl.

He told the girl he wasn't from the area and asked her for directions, but his questions soon turned sexual.

The 14-year-old tried to run away, but the man quickly caught up to her, grabbed her and dragged her behind a bush where he raped her, according to Italian outlet Corriere. 

The girl was reportedly screaming and fighting back during the assault, but no one heard her cries for help in the isolated area of Bolzano.

She managed to break free after 15 minutes by hitting her assailant with her elbow. 

The crying teenager ran away and sought help from a woman living in the neighbourhood, who called the police and waited with the shocked victim until emergency services arrived.

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The girl was taken to hospital for treatment. 

The assailant fled but was detained by police as he was about to board a bus heading to the centre of Bolzano. 

Police said that the alleged rapist is a man from Pakistan, aged 40, who lives in Bolzano, where is currently imprisoned and facing an aggravated sexual assault charge. 

He was brought before a judge on October 26, who ordered that the man is to remain in prison due to him being a flight risk. The judge also feared the man could commit another assault if released.

Italian deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini shared the case on social media and wrote: 'Let's see if in this case too there will be a judge who will force us to keep this precious foreign "resource" in Italy too...'

The Pakistani man had reportedly been living in Italy legally for years and worked in Verona before recently moving to Bolzano to work in a restaurant.

The alleged rape caused outrage in Italy, with residents in Bolzano planning to participate in a torchlight procession in protest against the crime next week.