Illustrative: This photograph shows a view of a parked French National Police car, in front of the Caen-Ifs prison in Ifs, near Caen, northwestern France, on May 14, 2024. (Lou Benoist/AFP)
French prosecutors have opened an investigation into three teenage boys suspected of raping a 12-year-old girl in an attack motivated by antisemitism, French media reported Tuesday.
An investigation was opened on Saturday night after the girl and her parents filed a police complaint in Courbevoie, near Paris, alleging that she had been attacked in a park near her home by three teenagers, who hurled antisemitic insults at her before dragging her to a shed and gang-raping her, Le Monde reported.
The three attackers, aged 12, 13 and 14 years old, beat the girl and “forcibly penetrated” her while “making death threats and antisemitic remarks,” the report said, citing an unnamed police source.
Two of the three attackers were identified by the girl’s friend, who had been in the park with her at the time of the attack, and all three were arrested on Monday.
According to Le Parisien, one of the suspects was the girl’s former boyfriend, who confessed to the attack and said he had acted out of revenge after she hid her religious identity from him. French media outlets reported that investigators uncovered antisemitic content on the suspect’s phone, although that was not confirmed.
Following the attack, the girl was taken to a local hospital, where she underwent a gynecological examination that confirmed she had been raped.
The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office confirmed to local news outlets that the teenagers were being investigated on suspicion of “aggravated rape, aggravated sexual assault, attempted extortion, invasion of privacy, death threats,” for the attack. They were also being investigated for violence and hate speech due to the antisemitic nature of the attack.
One of the three suspects was placed in detention and the other two were in police custody, due to their age. They were scheduled to appear before a judge on Tuesday and prosecutors requested that they remain in detention until they are charged and tried.
Antisemitism has surged in France in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terror assault in southern Israel and subsequent war in Gaza. Of the 1,676 antisemitic incidents reported in France in 2023 — up from 436 the year prior — 74 percent occurred after October 7.
Source: The Times of Israel
