ITALY-WOMEN: Third World Roadside Prostitutes Fuel Heated Debate

ROME, Nov 09 (IPS) - Travelling to Rome's Fiumicino airport from the city one travels through a rural landscape which is intensely cultivated and a far cry from the urban jungle that has been left behind.

In such a context, the sight of as many as seven different coloured prostitutes over a five-kilometre stretch, aggressively strutting their roadside stuff seems out of place.

The vision of a young Nigerian woman, emerging suddenly from the rubbish lined roadside at the sound of a car and dressed in only the slimmest of swimsuits, comes as a shock.

Yet, for all of this summer and autumn, that country road to the airport has been frequented by coloured prostitutes, probably from either Nigeria or Senegal.

Along the same airport road, there is a turn off for the Torrimpietra Dairy and vineyard.

This is a favourite stopping point for Rome day trippers because not only can one visit the vineyard, watch the winemakers in action and sample their wares, but also the complex boasts a pleasant little restaurant where a more serious study of local liquid produce can be embarked upon.

One morning last September, 15-year-old Graziano D. was out walking the family dog on the little road leading up to the Torrimpietra vineyard when he noticed a recently burnt out Lancia Prisma car.

Smoke was still coming from the car's tyres so Graziano's curiosity was aroused and he moved in for a closer inspection.

To the young boy's horror, he discovered two freshly burnt out bodies in the back of the car, one of them with the chain of a crucifix clasped in its teeth in a hideous rigor mortis.

The two dead people were both Bulgarian, 24-year-old Nora Kocheva and 37-year-old Todor Todorov. Nora had worked as a prostitute, in tandem with her lover Todor.

Their particular speciality had been a sexual entrappment whereby Nora would engage an excited client just long enough to seriously distract his attention before Todor would appear on the scene to relieve client of car, wallet and other valuables.

The scam had been working very well, it seems. So much so that three Ukranians, involved in the same trade, wanted to recruit Nora to work for them.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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