Four migrant men have been arrested after a middle-aged woman was gang-raped on the night of France’s World Cup win.
The woman was found with a badly swollen face in the commune of Oudon in the Loire-Atlantique department the following morning, Ouest France reports.
Locals were horrified by the crime, and an atmosphere of mistrust is said to have settled on Oudon, with some female residents telling journalists they are now afraid to go jogging in the evening.
One man organised a “very dignified” silent march which drew around 250 people who wanted “to support this woman, to say no to violence” according to local mayor Alain Bourgoin, who participated.
Four men from Romania, one of whom was traced through his DNA, have been arrested and detained, although reports do not indicate whether they are ethnic Romanians or members of the country’s Romani Gypsy community, or Roma, many of whom have dispersed across Western and Northern Europe since the European Union extended Free Movement immigration rights to south-east Europe in 2014.
“Dozens” of French women complained of being forcibly kissed, groped, grabbed between the legs or otherwise assaulted on the night of the country’s World Cup win, which was marred by a descent into rioting, looting, and general disorder as street celebrations wore on.
Victims claimed that even where police where present or nearby, complaints were not dealt with, with officers saying they were on the scene to guard against terror attacks.
Many said they did not bother to formally report the attacks, having no faith investigations would be carried out or concluded successfully.
“We were at least 200,000 in Lyon,” said one high school aged girl who was grabbed by the neck and assaulted by two men.
“What is the point of my filing a suit… I already know that the police will not do any research on this.”
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