An Italian national released after being kidnapped in Morocco

The International Police Cooperation Service (SCIP) has released a 47-year-old Italian national kidnapped in Morocco, Corriere della Sera said.

The woman had come to Morocco from Italy in November to have a paper marriage with a Moroccan so that the latter could obtain a residence permit. She then planned to return to Italy, but she was allegedly kidnapped by his family.

The Italian national had been persuaded by a Moroccan friend to accept a marriage of convenience with her nephew, a 27-year-old young man. She had thus given her consent to a union which would have brought her 5,000 euros and allowed the man to obtain a valid leave to remain in Italy.

However, bureaucratic difficulties linked to the divorce from her previous husband, also Moroccan, would have made her change her mind and she would therefore have decided to return to Italy.

The young man who was set to marry her, with the help of his mother and his sister, would however have kidnapped her, keeping her isolated in a house in a village about twenty kilometers away from Marrakech. The woman, who had managed to keep her cell phone, was able to contact her family and inform them of her situation.

She also tried to escape by jumping from the third floor of the building where she was held, but she suffered a fractured lower limb, as well as injuries to some vertebrae due to the fall.

Found by her kidnapper, she was brought back to the place where she was held against her will. Her family decided to file a complaint. The woman is now hospitalized in a health facility while waiting to return to Italy. The man was arrested.