French authorities have arrested two men for their alleged involvement in a violent assault in Montepellier on May 14 during which a 20-year-old pregnant woman was kicked multiple times in the stomach and her companion was attacked with a broken bottle, Le Figaro newspaper has reported.
The pregnant woman was traveling alone on a tram in the southern French city when, near to the Tonnelles station at 10:40 p.m, she noticed a visibly-drugged male harassing three young teenage girls.
According to a police source, the pregnant woman intervened in the altercation, at which point the perpetrator directed his attention towards her. Despite pushing the attacker away vigorously and knocking him to the ground, the assailant stood back up and proceeded to kick the young woman three times in the stomach. At the same time, a second individual attempted to tear off her necklace.
The woman, trying to defend herself, managed to phone her companion who was due to be arriving on the platform at the next stop.
A larger fight then broke out with the pregnant woman’s companion tackling the first individual to the ground, before being struck by the second attacker who had been holding a broken bottle.
The police arrived very quickly at the scene and broke up the attack.
The two perpetrators were arrested and taken into custody. They immediately presented as unaccompanied minors — the first claimed to have been born in 2005 in Mostaganem, Algeria, while the second claimed three different identities, explaining that he was born in 2003, 2005, and 2006 in either Mostaganem, Algeria, or Casablanca, Morocco.
The pair now face charges for violent attempted robbery, death threats, insults, and a sexual exhibition. One of the attackers remains in police custody, while the other is being detained in a juvenile detention center.