Black man’s alleged rape with baton by French police was ‘accident’
Investigators looking into the beating and sodomy of a black man in France claimed that the police accidentally injured the man in the manner they did.
Investigators looking into the beating and sodomy of a black man in France claimed that the police accidentally injured the man in the manner they did.
The 22-year-old man, identified as Theo, claims that he was sodomized on Feb. 2 when he was searched by four police officers. Since then, one officer has been charged with aggravated rape and the others with aggravated assault, according to a statement by French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux.
An investigation earlier concluded that while Theo’s injuries were serious, there was no indication that it was rape, with the investigation claiming that the injuries were suffered accidentally. Police claimed that Theo’s pants “slipped down on their own.”
French President Francois Hollande visited Theo on Tuesday at the hospital. “Theo reacted with dignity and responsibility,” he later said on Twitter after the meeting, adding that “justice has been seized.”
The incident has sparked protests all across Paris, and more than a dozen people have been arrested, though Theo has asked for calm.
“I would like to ask the residents of my neighborhood to calm down. I ask them to stop the hostilities because I love my city, and I want to find it the way I left it,” Theo told French news station BFMTV.
