Gang of teenagers brutally beat gay couple with iron bars leaving one victim with permanent disfigurement
France is the latest country to see efforts to outlaw conversion therapy (Julien Mattia/NurPhoto via Getty)
A gay couple in France have been hospitalised after being brutally attacked by a gang of teens armed with iron bars.
The couple, aged 19 ad 22, were “ambushed” by the teens while parking their car in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, police say.
Gay couple in France were ‘ambushed’ by teens with iron bars.
According to La Parisien, the assailants shouted homophobic slurs as they attacked the men’s car with iron bars, smashing their windows.
When one of the victims exited the vehicle, the teens targeted him, beating him repeatedly with an iron bar.
One of the victims sustained a serious eye injury in the attack
The victims eventually fled their vehicle on foot before seeking medical attention.
One of the victims sustained a serious eye injury in the attack, the newspaper reports.
Teen faces hate charge.
A 17-year-old has been arrested in connection with the attack, and on Tuesday was charged with aggravated violence resulting in mutilation or disfigurement, prosecutors say.
The minor was also charged with robbery and damage to property, as well as an aggravated offence “committed because of the sexual orientation of the victim.”
French LGBT+ group SOS Homophobie said: “We are angry at the terrible aggression towards a male couple by a dozen young men in Seine-Saint-Denis on Monday.
“One of the attackers was detained. We give our full support to the victims.”
The group reported a 66 percent increase in violent homophobic attacks across France 2018, with 231 physical attacks recorded.
