JUDGES sparked outrage in Italy by freeing a man convicted of rape because the drunk victim “dared” him by leaving a toilet door open.

The appeals court panel ruled it was an “invitation” and “gave him hope” even though she says she repeatedly told him no.

GettyThe rape conviction was overturned by three appeal judges in Turin[/caption]

The 25-year-old defendant – who was not named in reports in Italy – was said to have raped the woman at a bar in Turin in May 2019.

She asked him to show her the way to a courtyard bathroom, left the door ajar and asked him to pass her some tissue, reports local newspaper CronacaQui.

This was “read by the accused as an invitation to dare”, the appeal judges said.

Prosecutors say the man entered the cubicle, put his hand over her mouth and forcibly raped her as she begged him to stop.

But the judges rejected the key forensic evidence – a broken zip on her jeans – saying it was already worn out and not proof he used force.

They overturned his conviction and 26-month sentence and formally acquitted him on Friday.

The ruling – which now faces challenge at a higher court – provoked a furious reaction from politicians and campaigners.

League MP Laura Ravetto told the Ansa news agency the verdict was “spine-chilling”.

She said: “The girl, who clearly voiced her non-consent to sex, supposedly ‘induced the man to dare’ by leaving the toilet door open and being drunk. It’s aberrant”.

Five Star Movement MP Maria Edera Spadoni said it “sets the fight against gender violence back by light years”.

She said magistrates needed to be “retrained” on the issue.

Democratic Party senator Valeria Valente said: “This sentence is particularly serious. I place my trust in the Supreme Court of Cassation to overturn it”. 

The original trial heard the man and woman, both in their 20s, had been friends for around five years.

Despite a few brief kisses in the past, she had made it clear she was not interested in a romantic relationship.

He confessed he had a “soft spot” for her and held out hope they would still get together, the court heard.

When he followed her into the cubicle she repeatedly told him she did not want sex, reports Il Corriere della Sera.

The woman told the first trial judge: “I repeated several times to him: ‘What the f*** are you doing? What the f*** are you doing? I don’t want to.”

‘Illogical’

However the appeal court last week ruled: “At the time of the events the girl was upset due to excessive use of alcohol.

“It is therefore highly probable that she was not fully in herself when she requested access to the bathroom, (and) caused the approach of the young man who was actually waiting for her behind the door, guarding her handbag.

“Not only that, but she stayed in the bathroom, without closing the door, so as to give the man the idea that this was the propitious opportunity that the young woman was offering him. An opportunity that he did not miss.”

Deputy Attorney General Nicoletta Quaglino filed an appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the “contradictory and illogical” acquittal.

The top prosecutor said: “The court demonstrates that it does not apply the jurisprudential principles on the subject of consent to the sexual act”.

The case is the latest to give rise to claims of misogyny in the Italian justice system.

In March 2019, two men were acquitted after a judge said a woman was “too ugly” and “masculine” to be a credible rape victim.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse following the outrageous ruling in Ancona.

Italy’s top court overturned it and ordered a retrial.

Last year the appeals court in Florence was fined after overturning the convictions of six men accused of gang raping a student.

Europe’s top rights court slammed the Italian judges for “perpetuated sexist stereotypes” by blaming the victim’s red underwear, bisexuality and “ambivalent attitude towards sex”.

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