French prosecutors have charged two 13-year-old boys with gang rape, antisemitic insults, and death threats against a 12-year-old Jewish girl in Courbevoie, a suburb of Paris. They are currently under arrest.
A third suspect, a 12-year-old boy, has been charged with antisemitic insults and violence, and death threats, but not with rape. According to Le Parisien, he testified against his older peers and is under house arrest.
The girl told police she was dragged into a shed on Saturday evening. According to AFP, the suspects beat her and forced her to have anal and vaginal penetration, fellatio while uttering death threats and antisemitic remarks.
Police sources also said she was called a "dirty Jew," and one of the boys asked her questions about her Jewish religion and Israel,
French political figures have strongly condemned the heinous hate crime. President Emmanuel Macron, at a cabinet meeting, called for a decisive fight against the scourge of antisemitism, saying that words of hatred lead to terrible consequences.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, accused French leftists of exploiting the Israel-Hamas conflict for their own purposes. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left France Unbowed, also condemned the crime.
The number of antisemitic incidents in the first months of 2024 has tripled compared to the same period last year, directly linked to Hamas'sHamas's attack on Israel and the subsequent war.
