PARIS — Six people kidnapped and tortured a young Jewish man by punching and kicking him and writing “dirty Jew” on his forehead, judicial officials said Wednesday.
The 19-year-old victim met with his six alleged attackers, who ranged in age from 17 to 28, in the Paris suburb of Bagneux to try to settle an argument about a missing cellphone and camcorder, officials from the prosecutor’s office in Nanterre said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
They said the six reportedly held the victim for about nine hours, taunted him for being Jewish and said he was gay. They allegedly forced him to eat cigarette butts and scrawled anti-Semitic and anti-homosexual insults on his forehead.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, suffered slight injuries.
The alleged attackers have been detained, and investigators filed preliminary charges against them. The preliminary charges include committing “acts of torture or barbarism” and “kidnapping by a gang.”
