A woman was hospitalised after a vicious beating by a group of masked men in one of Sweden’s so-called “vulnerable” areas, or no-go zones, while out with friends.
The woman, who was accompanied by two of her friends, was out walking in the area of Norrby when several masked men approached them in a car, got out of the vehicle, and began to chase them.
While two of the women managed to escape the gang of men, one, said to be in her twenties, did not, and she was viciously beaten. She was later taken to a local hospital but the true extent of her injuries remains unclear, Nyheter Idag reports.
Local police say that details on the incident are unclear and no suspects in the case have been arrested. It is so for unknown how many men were even involved in the attack, and the motivation also remains unclear.
Hans-Jörgen Ostler, a local police press spokesman, said that police are choosing not to release a description of the attackers, but are investigating the matter as an aggravated assault.
Norrby, which is located in the city of Borås, was noted last year as having a large migrant population, particularly migrants from Somalia, with 37 per cent of the residents in the area being born overseas.
A report about the area claimed that “veil-wearing has already started to occur in pre-school already at the age of one,” and that “morality police” sometimes attack women who refuse to wear an Islamic veil in the area.
Several residents of the area are also said to have travelled to the Middle East to fight for groups like the Islamic State in recent years, and Islamic extremism has become a major issue.
Past surveys of women across Sweden have found many are afraid to go out after dark in certain areas of the country, with many citing security concerns.