Bride from Sicily: her “no” went down in history (9 photos)

What do we associate this small piece of Italian boot with? Heat, invigorating tart wine and, of course, the mafia. Today the police managed to imprison most of the leaders of the groups, but quite recently there was absolute lawlessness here.





Francesca (she was also called Franca) Viola lived in the north-west of Sicily in the small town of Alcamo. More than half a century ago it was not such a popular tourist destination as it is now - then the coast was mainly vineyards and farmer's houses. Young and beautiful Francesca was from just such a family.



Francesca Viola

At the age of 15, she accepted the proposal of the young man Filippo Melodia and the couple became engaged. Early marriage was not something strange then and Francesca’s family was not against it. Moreover, the young man was not from a simple family: the nephew of the local chief mafioso. Most likely, even if they wanted to object to something, they did not dare.

But when the groom ended up behind bars due to theft, Francesca’s dad decided to break off the engagement to Filippo.





Franka was a beautiful girl, so the next contender for her heart appeared quite quickly. On the plus side: he was not connected with the mafia. But for him it was a minus. The couple dated for two years, in no hurry to get married, until Filippo was released. And here the real hell began.

Melody was absolutely not one of those who calmly accepts refusals.

As soon as he found out that his Frank was engaged to someone else, he began to persuade the girl to return. When persuasion did not help, Filippo turned to threats, promising to shoot her in the head. Francesca stood her ground and then, one morning, twelve armed guys led by the insulted groom burst into Viola’s house. The girl's mother tried to protect Francesca, but she was severely beaten and thrown aside. The girl was kidnapped.



Francesca ended up in the country house of Filippo's sister. The unfortunate girl was locked there and raped for eight days, almost non-stop, in order to force her to marry Melodia. She was constantly told that in a different situation she would be disgraced and she would have to live with this all her life. Yes, in that Sicily, the blame for rape was always placed on the victim and the village would definitely have turned its back on Francesca and her family. It would seem that she had one and only chance - to marry her torturer. Francesca agreed to his terms...



But as soon as she was released, she immediately declared that not only would she not marry Melody, but she would also sue him. The laws then stated that rape is not a crime against the person. But just against “public morality”. The one who “lost her virginity” before marriage was subject to ostracism and censure.



Francesca at the police

Francesca went against everyone. She filed a lawsuit against the rapists and the case turned out to be high-profile. While the trial was ongoing, the entire Viola family was constantly threatened and once the vineyard barn was set on fire (they burned to the ground).



Franca publicly defied the disgusting social norms of southern Italy, where a woman was expected to marry the man who raped her.

But the central media already wrote about what happened and the matter reached parliament. And just like that, the conservative and impudent south met the real laws of Italy. The offended rapist's lawyers diligently tried to convince the judge that Francesca came herself and in general really wanted to marry Filippo.

Filippo Melodia was sentenced to 10 years. It was a victory.



Filippo is awaiting a court decision

Francesca, after everything she had been through, disappeared from the radar. She avoided communicating with the press, having achieved her goal, and all that is known is that a few years later she married a man named Giuseppe Ruisi. The man, by the way, honestly admitted that he was afraid of the end of Melody’s term, but then added: “it’s better to live ten years with you than spend your whole life with another woman.”

In 1976, Filippo was released, but, apparently, for 10 years he reconsidered his attitude towards her and did not approach Franka’s family. Moreover, the guy returned to his criminal activities.

And two years later he was shot under strange circumstances that no one bothered to find out.

The brave Francesca Melodia was able to move the conservative cobblestones of Italian society - even in the most remote regions of Sicily, girls were no longer forced to get married. Especially for rapists. Now “persuasion” by force has ceased to be a “usual” practice and the courts did not ignore such cases.



Francesca upon receiving the award

The President of Italy awarded Francesca the Order of Merit for the Italian Republic, and the girl herself still lives in Alcamo. During her marriage, she had two children and is now a grandmother.

She could have broken down, like many then, and married a criminal who gave her up to be torn to pieces by her cronies. But she survived, achieved her goal and helped hundreds of other “brides” like her to escape.