A group of teenage girls were assaulted with acid on their way home from trick or treating by a group of “hooded youths” on Saturday evening in a Paris suburb.
The Kremlin-Bicêtre police have opened an investigation after six costume-wearing teens were attacked on their way home from an evening of Halloween trick-or-treating in the Villejuif commune of the Val-de-Marne suburb of Paris.
According to Le Journale du Dimanche, at around 830 pm, the group of girls were approached by three hooded youths who began to follow them. While the girls attempted to flee, the youths took out a soda bottle and threw it at them.
Upon impact with the ground, the bottle exploded, and its liquid contents sprayed on the girls’ costumes, as well as parts of their bodies, including in the mouth, eyes, and skin.
After noticing that the substance had corroded their costumes, the girls then fled to the house of one of their parents, who went back to the scene of the incident and retrieved the bottle.
Le Parisien reported that the Paris Fire Brigade identified the substance as a mixture of hydrochloric acid and aluminium pieces, potentially explaining why it exploded.
Fortunately, the girls suffered no major burns as a result of the attack. So far, no suspects have been identified.
It comes as over 12,000 people have signed a petition to “launch a pilot project for carriages reserved for women and children” on the Paris RER commuter rail service in a bid to combat rising violence against women and girls on public transport.
Some of those who supported the petition blamed France’s open-door immigration system. Le Figaro quotes one commenter on the petition’s website as saying: “France needs a major cleanup; it’s becoming unbearable. We let just anyone in without having the courage to deport them when they commit crimes and offences.”
