One of the two Romanian women retained under suspicion of killing a young Italian woman in an underground station in Rome has admitted her involvement in the “incident” but denied that she intended to kill her, according to the online edition of Corriere della Sera on Tuesday.

But Italian prosecutors say that Doina Matei, 21, acted “consciously and willingly” and behaved like an “unstable person”, acting “impulsively and forcefully” when the Italian woman was hit with an umbrella in the eye, suffering injuries that later killed her in hospital.

But the second Romanian woman retained in the case, an underaged girl, says he was not involved in the accident and had nothing to do with it. Italian prosecutors find it hard to believe such statements, according to the newspaper.

The two women were arrested by the Italian police on Sunday, shortly after two aggressors picked out the eyes of 22-year old Vanessa Russo with an umbrella in an underground station in the Italian capital.

The Party of Romanians in Italy said “this atrocious crime is the result of an inhuman and sick society” and said the whole Romanian community in Italy condemned the murder.