A TEENAGE girl was reportedly raped and strangled to death by an Iraqi migrant onboard a sinking boat as onlookers, including her mother, watched on in horror.
The unspeakable act took place late on June 16 as the boat sank on its deadly Mediterranean route, but the attacker survived the shipwreck.
Dozens of migrants were on the boat in Italy, alongside his alleged powerless 16-year-old victim who was making the perilous journey to Europe with her mother.
Only eleven survived, according to local outlets and the UN and UNICEF claim the migrants from Syria, Iraq, and Iran were on board.
They earlier reported that the attacker is a 27-year-old Iraqi man who saw his own wife and daughter die in front of him.
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Another outlet say the assault started when the sailing boat was already adrift in the Ionian Sea, before he "vented his violence" onto the girl, a daughter of a fellow survivor.
It is believed that she was so injured by the grim violence that she died by suffocation.
Police are still investigating his motive after the girl's mother reported her death but have arrested him as a key suspect.
Local prosecutor, Giuseppe Casciaro said: "We are carrying out further investigations."
The suspect is currently detained in prison in Calabria, southern Italy.
They confirmed that 36 died aboard, including 15 children, and some remain missing and the ship is thought to have been carrying around 70 migrants, two dozen of which were children.
NGOs added that migrants also came from Kurdish and Afghan families.
The ship, that was wrecked around 120 miles off Italy's southern coast, set sail from Turkey.
The notorious Central Mediterranean migration route is so deadly that its seas account for most migrant deaths.
Survivors explained to charity workers that they made the journey to Europe without life jackets, and other boats failed to help them.
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Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported that the shipwreck was brought on by an engine exploding.
Shortly after it was left adrift it started to sink and completely submerged.
Survivors were taken to the Roccella Ionica port, where one woman later died.
In March, we reported that the number of illegal migrants in the first quarter surpassed the previous 2022 record of 4,548 with four days left, 23 per cent higher than last March.
Italy is a key entry points for thousands who seek to escape their often precarious conditions in their home country.
Every year, people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia attempt to enter the more prosperous EU.
