My adult daughter was mugged inside the Bologna train station this afternoon. The man, whom she believed was Italian, grabbed her arm roughly and her carryon suitcase and demanded money to release her suitcase. She turned over all she had 30 euros and got her suitcase back. She was not using her cellphone at the time nor was it visible.
She was, unfortunately, looking lost at the time as she tried to figure out the trains. She said that despite repeatedly calling out for help during the attack, bystanders completely ignored the situation. Sadly, I'm not sure bystanders in most places will actually "do" anything though it would be nice if they also yelled for help.
People look lost all the time in train stations, it's natural if you have never been in a particular station. No one should be targeted because of it - What a shame. She had to get on a train fast to get to France to catch her flight back to NYC. It seems this happened at the top of the stairs near the platform, so there were other perils. It may be a known ploy, taking luggage, then demanding payment for its return.
She regrets complying so easily, but we assured her she did the right thing to minimize risk of personal injury. Thank you kindly for your response. But I agree that she did the right thing. I'm very sad that in Bologna people pretended to ignore what was happening. I studied there many years ago and there was a big sense of solidarity and mutual care among people; it was a friendly and safe place, I often spent the night in Bologna's station waiting for the first train to Turin without any problem.
Things have obviously changed for the worse. My daughter almost had her bag ripped open in Bologna Train Station. We were using the ticket machines and there was an elderly, fairly scruffy Italian man hanging around. She just happened to turn and saw that he had a small knife in his hand and was very close to her bag. As soon as he realised she'd seen him, he darted away.
