Interior minister Marco Minniti on Thursday deplored the attacks against two Muslim schoolgirls by family members in northern Italy this week which led to the teenagers being taken into care.
"Any violence or abuse of power in the name of religion, especially towards children is inconceivable - worse than unacceptable," said Minniti.
Italy "respects religious freedom but is a profoundly lay country - there can be no ambiguity on this point," he told a conference in Rome on religious freedom.
His comments came after a 14-year-old Moroccan girl was temporarily removed from her family in Pavia on Wednesday after allegedly being whipped, beaten and kicked for being "too Western."
On Tuesday, a 16-year-old Bangladeshi girl and her sisters were taken away from their parents in Bologna after the teen's mother allegedly shaved off her hair for refusing to wear the Islamic face-veil.
