The woman, who is believed to be of Albanian origin, is thought to have been beaten and gagged in an apartment in Via dei Tribunali in Naples’ historical centre, according to Italian daily La Stampa.

She was then put into a rubbish bag and abandoned on the pavement, the paper reports, speculating that whoever put her in the bag probably thought she was dead.

A neighbour saw the bag and alerted emergency services, who made the grisly discovery. The woman, who was barely breathing when found, had been severely beaten and her abdomen had been crushed. She was taken to Loreto Mare hospital where she was operated on.

According to the paper, she has not yet spoken and police are as yet unable to determine her name and who attacked her.

Residents living nearby claim that the apartment outside which the woman was found was inhabited by an Albanian couple, but it is not yet known if she is the same woman.

In 2012, the paper reports that a total of nine women were murdered in Naples – six of them by family members. And since the beginning of this year, four women have been murdered.