Policeman is charged with rape after footage emerges showing a black youth being arrested by four officers and 'sexually assaulted with a truncheon' in a Paris suburb 

  • One of the four police officers involved in the man's arrest has been charged
  • It is claimed a telescopic baton had been instered into the man's anal passage
  • Bloodstains are still visible at the site where the attack happened in Paris
  • Rioting has followed every night since the alleged attack in Aulnay-sous-Bois 

Rioting has broken out on a tinderbox French council estate after a policeman was accused of sexually assaulting a black youth worker with a truncheon.

Amateur video posted online by the BFM news channel shows the 22-year-old, who has been identified as 'Theo' by protesters,  being arrested last Thursday.

Now one of four officers involved in the incident has been charged with rape on the so-called '3000 estate' in Aulnay-sous-Bois, in the north east suburbs of Paris.

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A police officer has been charged with rape after a 22-year-old man was allegedly sodomised with a baton

A police officer has been charged with rape after a 22-year-old man was allegedly sodomised with a baton

A police officer has been charged after the alleged sexual assault on a 22-year-old youth worker

A police officer has been charged after the alleged sexual assault on a 22-year-old youth worker

CCTV appears to show the man, named Theo, being attacked with a baton by an officer

CCTV appears to show the man, named Theo, being attacked with a baton by an officer

In horrific scenes that have been edited out of the film, a telescopic baton was allegedly inserted into the man's anal passage.

The man was so badly injured that he required surgery on his injuries. 

The three other officers involved have in turn been charged with 'deliberate violence'. All face trial.

Today bloodstains were still visible where the attack happened, and the alleged victim was still 'traumatised' with a 'severe wound' in hospital.

Furious protests have been held on the estate where the 22-year-old was allegedly sodomised with a baton in Paris

Furious protests have been held on the estate where the 22-year-old was allegedly sodomised with a baton in Paris

Rioting has taken place every night since, with Socialist presidential candidate Benoit Hamon saying: 'Police represent the republic that they protect. There is an urgent need to reestablish confidence.'

A march is planned though the estate today, and there are fears that it too could descend into violence.

'We are doing everything possible to maintain public order,' said a local police source.

'Gangs of youths have been attacking us, and setting property on fire every night. The fear is that this violence will escalate.'

Large demonstrations have been held by a community shocked by the allegations

Large demonstrations have been held by a community shocked by the allegations

A window of the local police station was smashed by rioters angry over the alleged rape of a 22-year-old man who was arrested last Thursday

A window of the local police station was smashed by rioters angry over the alleged rape of a 22-year-old man who was arrested last Thursday

At one stage over the weekend all street lightening went out on the 3000 – which is named after the approximate number of people who live there – because of an act of vandalism.

Police argue that Theo's injuries are consistent with an accident, in which his tracksuit bottoms fell down and the baton penetrated him.

It was not until the patrol brought the man back to their station that they noticed he was bleeding, and called paramedics.

'He was there at the wrong time and came across some crooks,' his brother-in-law Johann told BFM television, explaining the arrest.

His sister Aurelie called for calm as supporters gathered outside her brother's home on Monday holding banners reading 'Justice for Theo'.

The local prosecutor's office said the police had stopped a group of around a dozen people 'after hearing calls characteristic of lookouts at drug dealing sites'.

Graffiti brands police 'rapists' in Aulnay-sous-Bois following the alleged attack

Graffiti brands police 'rapists' in Aulnay-sous-Bois following the alleged attack

During the operation they 'attempted to arrest a 22-year-old man'.

When he resisted, they used tear gas, and 'one of them used an expandable baton,' the prosecutor's office said, without giving further details.

The Socialist politician in charge of the Seine-Saint-Denis region where Aulnay-sous-Bois is located, Stephane Troussel, said the incident raised 'numerous questions'.

'Although thousands of police are doing their work properly... too many arrests end in nightmares for some young people. The image of the Republic is being tarnished. We have to urgently find a solution,' he said in a statement. 

 

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