An Iraqi illegal immigrant has been arrested by Italian authorities on charges that he raped and killed a 16-year-old Iraqi girl on board the ship that was transporting them to Europe before it sank.

The incident was reported by the girl’s mother, who managed to survive the wreck that happened on June 17, about 180 kilometers west of the coast of Calabria in southern Italy.

During the investigation and thanks to the testimony of the mother and other survivors, the authorities were led to the arrest of a 27-year-old man who attacked and killed the 16-year-old Iraqi girl, after raping her.

Italian media reports say the man took out his anger on the 16-year-old after his wife and daughter drowned after their boat caught fire and capsized. He raped the girl and then caused her death by suffocation.

11 migrants survived the shipwreck, which had started from Turkey. The identified victims are 36, of which 15 are minors, 8 men and 7 women. The missing are still expected to be over twenty.

The testimony of the victim’s mother, as well as other persons, soon led the Italian authorities to the trail of the man who has now been placed in temporary custody until he appears before the Justice.