ROME, January 21- RAPSI. The last hearing in the sex-for-hire case against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been scheduled for March 11, Italian media reported on Monday, citing a Milan court.

Berlusconi has been accused of paying for sex with an underage woman. The verdict will be handed down before the parliamentary election on February 24-25. Berlusconi is running in the election as the leader of the right-of-center coalition.

The ruling was expected before voting day, although Berlusconi's attorneys attempted to suspend the trial until the election campaign is over. However, the court refused the request, the Corriere della Sera daily reported. The judges revised the hearings schedule and suggested that the prosecutors take time to prepare their closing address in the case for March 4.

The case against Berlusconi was opened in April 2011. Investigators believe that the politician had sex with an underage prostitute, the Morocco-born Karima El Mahroug, who goes by the name "Ruby" and was under 18 at the time, in exchange for gifts and money. The dancer attended parties at Berlusconi's luxury villa at Arcore near Milan.