- The attackers allegedly used brass knuckles and hit the woman with bottles
- The woman rolled under the train seats to protect her stomach from the steps
- Reports suggest that the three criminals live in the Castel Romano Roma camp
This is the horrific moment an eight-month pregnant woman was brutally beaten by a gang of three pickpockets on a Rome subway until her jaw was broken.
The woman, said to be in her 40s, was left for dead at Termini station on Friday after three people attacked her in the middle of a carriage. Doctors were forced to deliver the baby to save his life after the attack.
As shocked onlookers gather around her, the group can be seen kicking her as she shouts: ‘You need to bring more income’.
Speaking to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, she said: ‘They sent a group of thugs to slaughter me because I told them I didn’t want to steal anymore.
‘They attacked me while I was on the subway, with brass knuckles and also hit me with bottles.’
A vicious pickpocket group kicked an eight-month pregnant woman to the ground on a train in Rome before forcing her to undergo a caesarean section
The woman revealed to local Italian media that the group kicked, punched and spat on her during the public attack
The sickening footage shows two men getting into the carriage, both dressed in black.
One is wearing a tracksuit with white stripes and a sports cap, and next to it is another man in black trousers, a white sweatshirt and a hat of the same color, with a black bag on his shoulder.
As they boarded the train, they are seen throwing hard punches and swinging their legs back before landing kicks on the woman, who soon falls to the ground.
Recalling the ordeal, the woman said, “My only thought was the son I was carrying. I had to protect him, so I always kept my hands on my stomach. Hence the reason for the many wounds on my face: it was the only place they could hit’.
She added that she fell to the ground to take shelter under the train seats and prevent the attackers from hitting her stomach.
“But they didn’t stop,” she said, “they continued for a few minutes: kicking, punching, spitting until we reached the Termini stop.
‘At that moment the doors opened and, after a further series of assaults, they ran away.’
After the violent attack, panicked passengers were heard shouting ‘call the police’ as the woman lay battered and bruised on the ground.
The pickpockets stormed off the train and emergency services quickly arrived, but the ordeal was not over for the woman.
Doctors rushed the woman to a local hospital in Rome and decided to deliver the baby overnight, even though it was still a month early.
The baby is reportedly doing well, but the mother remains in hospital in serious condition.
She will undergo facial surgery in the coming days as the attackers left her with a broken jaw.
State Police officers from Viminale Police Station are investigating the case and have placed her under hospital protection.
Officers have examined the video footage, which shows the faces of the attackers, and are currently gathering information to make the arrest.
Local reports suggest that the three pickpockets are residents of the Castel Romano Roma camp.
According to Fanpage.ItThe woman reportedly has 12 children and was attacked when she decided she no longer wanted to steal and beg.
