Police arrested a 22-year-old man accused of insulting a teacher and threatening to assault her. This happened because she had asked his sister to take off her headscarf during a school trip. The young man was arrested on Friday September 16 near the Lycée Simone-Weil – where the girl attends school – on Rue de Poitou in the third arrondissement of Paris, Actu17 reported on Monday September 19. The suspect was transferred to the prosecutor’s office after being held in police custody, before finally being released under judicial supervision to await sentencing.
In detail: On Friday September 16, students of the Simone Weil High School spent the afternoon inside the historic library of the city of Paris, located in the Rue Pavée near the school. Suddenly, one of the two teachers present spotted that a female high school student had put on her headscarf as she was leaving the school building. “She asked her to take off her headscarf and explained to her that wearing it was not allowed in the school rules of the high school and especially during school trips,” a person close to the investigating authority told the newspaper.
She refused to remove her headscarf and called her parents. On the phone, her brother demanded to speak to the teacher. According to information available to Actu17, he promptly threatened her, saying among other things: “I will come and finish you off, you will see what happens to you, I am coming.”
The police were alerted and a police patrol went to the scene. At around 3.40 p.m., the suspect was identified in front of the high school as he was “on his way to the library”, as the same source reported to the media. The 22-year-old, who resides in the north of Paris, was taken into police custody. He reportedly responded to officers as follows: “If anyone touches my sister in the street or asks her to take off her veil, I will kill that person”.
According to Actu17, the threatened teacher reportedly filed a complaint. The suspect was released from custody on Sunday September 18 and will later stand trial for “insulting a person entrusted with a public duty” and “threatening such a person”, according to information from the Paris prosecutor’s office.