ROME, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Two officers from Italy's Carabinieri military police are under investigation for the rape of two American students, judicial sources in Florence told local media on Friday.
"Raped by Carabinieri: the American girls confirm their accusations. The officers are under investigation," the Carabinieri force said on Twitter, posting an article from La Stampa newspaper.
The two young women accused the policemen of raping them last Wednesday night after they left a Florence night club called Flo, according to RAI public broadcaster.
Club management had called police to quell an altercation between clients. The two young women were waiting for a taxi outside the club, when the two officers in uniform offered them a lift home in their patrol car.
The women accepted, and said the officers raped them when they got to their flat near the Ponte Vecchio bridge in the historic center of Florence, according to RAI.
The alleged victims underwent medical tests, and forensics are studying the evidence collected, RAI said.
As well, there are eyewitnesses to the fact that the women got into the patrol car, and security camera footage confirms their itinerary to their flat, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Investigators questioned the alleged victims separately far into Thursday night, and there was reportedly no discrepancy between their accounts of what happened.
The students spent last night in a safe house and their relatives are on their way from the United States, RAI reported.
As well, the U.S. Consul General in Florence, Benjamin Wohlauer, met with Florence Police Commissioner Alberto Intini on Friday morning, ANSA reported.
Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, has a high concentration of American university programs abroad, including Stanford, Syracuse, and New York University.
