Woman, 19, forced to swim with piranhas at circus
Life is hard for some people…
Police have closed down a circus in southern Italy after a terrified 19-year-old woman was forced to swim in a tank full of piranha fish while her younger sister endured the company of snakes and tarantulas.
Three men have been arrested and charged with holding the Bulgarian women in slavery and breaching international human rights conventions.
The trio, who are accused of running a “circus of horrors”, were named as Enrico Raffaele Ingrassia, 57, the owner; his son William Ingrassia, 33; and his son-in-law, Gaetano Belfiore, 25.
The Marino Circus has been offering shows at Petina, south of Naples in southern Italy, in a tent with 200 plastic seats inside.
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Mr Ingrassia’s daughter, who was not named, told police that a Bulgarian couple and their two daughters, aged 19 and 16, had been held as slaves “in a state of fear” since January.
They were forced to work 15 to 20 hours a day for €100 (78) a week instead of the promised €480, with €380 deducted as “expenses for their upkeep”.
An appalled spectator tipped off the police after seeing the show, in which Giusi, the 19-year-old, tried to escape from the piranha tank “trembling with terror”. Her head was held down by Mr Ingrassia.