A 14-year-old teenager suspected of homophobic comments arrested in the middle of class in Alfortville Is this a first effect of the emotion aroused by the suicide of Nicolás, this 15-year-old high school student who was a victim of bullying? Lundi, a 14-year-old adolescent was interpelled in class, in Alfortville, in the Val-de-Marne, a soupçonné d’avoir tenu des propos homophobes, inciting même au suicide, vis-à-vis a 15-year-old comrade , has learned 20 minutes from consistent sources. The student was immediately detained. “The investigations continue,” says the Créteil prosecutor’s office.
A complaint and an arrest on the same day
The alert was launched that same morning, around 10 a.m., by the father of the teenage victim of harassment who went to the Alfortville police station to file a complaint. According to her story, on September 15, her daughter, who had just begun a gender transition, received numerous homophobic comments from the young man in one of her Instagram posts. Some, with incredible violence, incite him to end his life. Shortly before, her parents were received by the director of the institute “to inform her that her daughter had received insults and threats this weekend in an Instagram group by an identified student,” the rectorate states.
Given the nature of the comments, the Public Prosecutor’s Office was immediately notified and on the same day issued an order for the student, who was attending the university, to appear in court. The student, who was in class, was arrested around 4:00 p.m., with the consent of the principal. According to a member of the university team, contacted by 20 minutes, the teenager was handcuffed in full view of all his classmates. “We are talking with the authorities concerned to understand under what conditions police officers may have been required to intervene in a school establishment to arrest a student in class,” the rector continues.
An “electric shock” about bullying
On the other hand, the harassment suffered online this weekend does not seem common. According to our information, the transition of this Secondary student is very well accepted within her establishment, both by the teaching team and by the students. No cases of physical or verbal violence have been reported.
On Monday night, the Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, promised, before the exceptionally gathered rectors, an “electric shock at all levels” in the fight against bullying. An audit on the management of the cases identified will be launched in each academy from September 2022 to September 2023. The conclusions are expected in four weeks.
