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Cosenza: 25-year-old dies after jumping from balcony during carabinieri search

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In Cosenza, Mohamed Amin Bessioud, a 25-year-old born in Italy to Tunisian parents, died after jumping from the balcony of his third-floor apartment while carabinieri were carrying out a home search. The young man was under house arrest for a previous drug and driving-without-license offence.

According to investigative sources, the provincial Carabinieri command had ordered the check to verify compliance with the precautionary measure and ascertain the possible possession of further drugs. Upon entering the apartment, the officers went to the young man's room with him and reportedly found approximately 100 grams of hashish. An arrest in flagrante delicto followed and Bessioud was handcuffed. According to the initial reconstruction, the young man shoved one of the officers before jumping from the window. Emergency services were immediately alerted and the young man was taken to hospital, where he died.

The Cosenza Prosecutor's Office has opened a file on the case.

The young man's mother, a Tunisian resident in Italy for over thirty years, confirmed that her son's act was voluntary, but described a climate of fear built over time due to the checks. According to the woman, her son suffered from depression, which began after his father's death, and it was not the first time he had attempted to take his own life: on a previous occasion a neighbour had managed to alert her and she had stopped him in time. The mother also stated her intention to file a complaint through her lawyers and to involve the Consulate.

The woman accused the carabinieri of harassing her son during various visits, claiming that one officer in particular had tormented him with threats and checks at all hours. According to her account, the officers closed the bedroom door before the incident, preventing her from entering. The mother says she perceived pressure beyond the door and opened it just as her son was jumping from the balcony, unable to stop him. She also reported being kept inside the house after the event until the arrival of emergency services, unable to approach her son.

Mohamed Amin Bessioud, according to his mother's account, played soccer as a youth, including with the Paris Saint-Germain youth team in France, and had attended the University of Calabria. The mother's accusations against the carabinieri have not been independently verified and remain subject to the investigation opened by the Prosecutor's Office.