Italian police have launched a murder inquiry after the naked body of a British man was found near a remote off-grid community.
The 35-year-old man was found lifeless on Saturday night between the municipalities of Noto and Canicattini Bagni in the province of Syracuse in Sicily, Italy.
Local newspaper La Sicilia suggested the death was linked to ‘esoteric rites’ after the man was found in a tent and near a farmhouse which contained a rope, psychotropic drugs and a goat’s head.
It is understood he had been staying in the remote area for several days and had come into contact with a community which has lived off-grid in abandoned farmhouses and campsites.
Local police have since launched an investigation and a post-mortem has been ordered to determine the cause of death of the Brit, whose neck showed signs of violence.
The off-grid community is known to locals, having lived alongside each other seemingly peacefully. ‘They have never caused any problems with public order or otherwise,’ Canicattini Bagni’s mayor Paolo Amenta told local news outlet MeridioNews.
‘And, in fact, they have even had some contact with our community.’
Pictured: Countryside in the region between the municipalities of Noto and Canicattini Bagni in the province of Syracuse in Sicily, Italy
The body was also found near a tent used as a meeting place for the community.
The death has since fuelled speculation that a ritual may have ended in disaster.
Locals refer to the members of the secluded group as ‘hippies’ or ‘flower children’. ‘They are mostly nomadic people passing through,’ mayor Amenta said. ‘They stay in the area for an average of ten days to a month. Some, however, stay longer.’
Some are believed to squat in empty farmhouses or in campsites on open land for a number of days, whereas others have decided to make a more permanent home, having either inherited plots of land from relatives or purchased it themselves.
‘They also welcome friends who share the same lifestyle,’ the mayor added. ‘Among them are children or young graduates from foreign countries who wish to live a freer life.’
The autopsy of the man’s body is reported to take place in the coming days as the investigation remains ongoing.
The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.
