Roma teenager fights for life after "lynching" in Paris suburb

By DAMIAN LE BAS

Editor

Photo: Agence France-Presse

A ROMA teenager was left in a coma today after he was savagely beaten by a mob who accused him of burglary.

The 16-year-old, who has not been named, was found unconscious in a shopping trolley in the poor Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis.

He remains in a coma, according to a judicial source who wished to remain anonymous.

The attack is being referred to as a "lynching" in the French press. "A group of several people came to find him in the camp where he lived and took him away by force," said a police source.

The boy had then been locked in a cellar and subjected to violent beatings, according to the same source.

Michel Fourcade, the mayor of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, claimed that the boy had been linked to several crimes prior to the incident, whereas District Council head Stephane Troussel called the assault a "heinous attack in the guise of vengeance”.

"The French republic owes protection to everyone, no matter where they live and what their origin," he said.

The teenager was living in a local temporary camp, which was abandoned in the wake of the attack.

The French government's approach to makeshift camps- and its focus on Roma migrants- have become infamous. In 2010 then-President Nicolas Sarkozy faced international criticism for vowing to clear Roma camps and deport their inhabitants.

The policy has continued under Socialist President François Hollande, with more than 19,000 Roma people being forcibly evicted from camps last year.

French rights group SOS Racism called the attack the "obvious result of nauseating tensions faced by our fellow citizens."