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The incident sparked a large scale police response after the young girl said she was approached and detained by three migrants near a refugee centre in the city which is situated close to the Slovak border. According to reports 400 citizens took to the streets after the girl reported the incident to her mother. And it has been claimed that the mass demonstration turned ugly after migrants began throwing stones at the crowds who assembled to protest at the incident.

ItaliaPrima More than 400 people took to the streets of Trieste

It is not right to be afraid for your daughter Victim's mother

The mother of the girl who has not been named spoke to the newspaper Gazzettino insisting her child has been left traumatised by her experience after she was cornered coming off a bus. She said: "It is not right to be afraid for your daughter, I do not know if my daughter will be able to go back to public transport." The incident occurred after a migrant centre was set up at the Villa Nazareth di Trieste.

Italia Prime Members of the public took to the streets after an 18-year-old was attacked

However a protest group known as Stop Before Trieste was set up after a number of females were alleged to have been harassed by migrants. Stop Before Trieste organiser Alessio Edoardo said: "Ours was a protest against the institutions, we did not want to incite to racism. "We have always and will continue to work alongside the police. "I as the organiser of the event agreed with the Police that we were to protest in an area agreed by the Police. "However it was not possible to comply with the order because the turnout was remarkable. "

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