Sumith Prasad
Set in Rome, Italy, Netflix’s crime film ‘The Catholic School’ centers around the students of St. Luigi High School, a renowned Catholic institution in the Italian capital. Angelo Izzo and Gianni Guido, who study at the institution, meet Donatella Colasanti through one of their schoolmates. The two friends get closer to Donatella and invite her to a villa of their friend. What starts as a calm evening descends into barbarous violence when Donatella gets raped and tortured by Angelo, Gianni, and their friend Andrea Ghira. As the Italian film depicts the heart-rending sufferings Donatella has to endure, the viewers may want to know whether she is based on a real rape victim. Well, let us provide the answer!
Was Donatella Colasanti a Real Rape Victim?
Yes, Donatella Colasanti is a real rape victim. In 1975, Donatella was a 17-year-old girl who lived in Montagnola. Before meeting Angelo and Gianni, Donatella and her friend were given a lift by a friend of the two boys. Through him, Angelo and Gianni then met Donatella and her friend Rosaria Lopez and the two boys proposed a trip to Lavinio. They drove to San Felice Circeo under the pretense that they are going to the villa of their mutual friend but it was the villa of Andrea Ghira’s family. After arriving at the villa, Gianni reportedly took out a gun to scare the two girls.
Meanwhile, Andrea joined Angelo and Gianni and the three boys raped and tortured Donatella and Rosaria for 35 hours. They were also locked in a bathroom, naked, without food or water. The three friends then killed Rosaria by beating and drowning her in a bathtub. They also tried to kill Donatella by strangling her with a belt. Donatella pretended to be dead, only for the three murderers to cover her and Rosaria in plastic and put them in the trunk of Gianni’s father’s car. The murderers drove to Rome and when they were away, Donatella made sounds by hitting the trunk of the car, only for a night watchman to listen to the same. She was then rescued from the car and the three murderers.
How Did Donatella Colasanti Die?
Donatella Colasanti died on December 30, 2005, at the age of 47, while suffering from metastatic breast cancer, the most advanced stage of breast cancer. She was under treatment at Regina Elena National Cancer Institute in Rome for two weeks before dying due to a cardiac arrest. Even though she was undergoing chemotherapy to fight her cancer that had spread to other parts of her body, Donatella eventually succumbed to the same. Her last words were, “battiamoci per la verit�,” which translates to “let’s fight for the truth.”
Upon escaping from Angelo, Gianni, and Andrea, Donatella fought for her fellow women. She played a major role in the recognition of rape as a crime against the freedom of a person and not against public morality in Italy, which paved the way for an amendment of the law concerning the same. She was also vocal about and against the semi-release of Angelo, which resulted in him murdering Maria Carmela Linciano and her daughter Valentina Maiorano in 2005.
In Italy, Donatella is still remembered and respected. Her residence in Sezze, a town located in the Province of Latina, is currently an anti-violence center, set up to prevent and combat any form of gender-based violence in her honor. Donatella’s father Roberto Colasanti remembers her as someone who achieved “important results for the country” by fighting for women’s rights and justice.
Read More: Where is Killer and Rapist Angelo Izzo Now?
