The Italian Prime Minister's candidate publishes the rape of a refugee and the volatility of the media

The far-right candidate who aspires to be Italy's first woman prime minister was criticized on Monday by her opponents for publishing an obscure video of a woman being raped by an asylum-seeker.

On Sunday evening, Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the Brothers of Italy party with neo-fascist roots, re-published a video on Twitter from an Italian news site, which was taken by a witness from a window overlooking the street.

In the clip, the woman, who has been identified as Ukrainian, can be heard screaming.

A 27-year-old asylum-seeker from Guinea has been arrested for sexual assault, according to Italian media reports.

Meloni wrote: “One cannot remain silent in the face of this horrific episode of sexual violence in broad daylight in Piacenza at the hands of an asylum seeker. I hug this woman. I will do everything in my power to restore security to our cities.”

Her main opponent in the September 25 ballot, Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta, responded in a radio interview that the reposting of the video crossed the "limits of dignity and decency."

Former Education Minister Lucia Azulina said the publication of the recording of the alleged rape was "not a formal criminal complaint, but a political exploitation" of the violence.

She added, "[Seeing] a woman running the country using these media is frightening."

"Melone has done something unbecoming of a civilized country, and anti-women," commented Carlo Calenda, leader of a small new centrist party called Azione.

Meloni's allusion to security in Italian cities is a right-wing theme in the Italian election campaign, and thus immigration and immigrants as well.

Meloni is backed by Matteo Salvini, the right-wing League leader and troubled former interior minister, who has vowed that "it will be my duty to defend our borders and Italians".

In a videotaped response to Letta's criticism, Meloni asserted that no one could be identified in the recording, and that the center-left leader had failed to condemn the attack itself.

She said, "Why don't you talk about this? Because otherwise, you have to come to terms with the fact that security in our cities is out of control, thanks to their surreal immigration policies.”

Opinion polls show that the Brothers of Italy is ahead of the Democratic Party, but neither has enough support to govern alone