Indian immigrant set on fire in Italy

Italian police have arrested three young men for allegedly beating and setting on fire an Indian immigrant who was sleeping on a train station bench in a seaside town near Rome, investigators said Monday.

The attack on the 35-year-old man in Nettuno sparked outrage in Italy and fueled a debate on attitudes toward immigrants.

Carabinieri paramilitary police said the three poured gasoline on the man early Sunday, then set him on fire.

The man has severe burns over 40 percent of his body, said Dr. Paolo Palombo, an official of Sant'Eugenio hospital in Rome, where the immigrant was taken for treatment. Palombo told SKY TG24 TV that the patient would undergo skin grafts Friday to help fight the danger of infection.

The mood among some citizens has turned ugly in recent years following the arrest of immigrants as suspects in several high-profile crimes, including the slaying of an Italian admiral's wife in suburban Rome and the rape of a young Italian woman in the countryside near Rome. MORE...