A woman was allegedly r@ped at least seven times by two French rugby players, Hugo Auradou, 20, and Oscar Jegou, 21, her lawyers has claimed.
Two French rugby stars accused of r@ping a woman at least seven times and leaving her with bite marks and injuries to her bre@sts
The 39-year-old Argentinian woman was left with bite marks and injuries to her bre@sts in the attack in a hotel room in the city of Mendoza, Argentina, according to her lawyer Natacha Romano.
French international rugby players Hugo Auradou, 20, and Oscar Jegou, 21, were arrested on r@pe and ass@ult charges in Buenos Aires on Monday.
They have denied the accusation, and say s3xual relations with the woman were consensual. The players were transferred from Interpol’s Buenos Aires headquarters to Mendoza on Thursday, where they are expected to be formally charged today.
Two French rugby stars accused of r@ping a woman at least seven times and leaving her with bite marks and injuries to her bre@sts
Romano said her client was hospitalised on Thursday after feeling ill emotionally and physically ‘because of everything that happened.’
She said earlier that the woman had suffered ‘fierce’ violence at the hands of her assailants in a hotel room, with injuries to her face, back, breasts, legs, and ribs as well as various bite and scratch marks.
The alleged victim claims to have been r@ped ‘at least six times’ by one of the men and once by the other, according to the lawyer. She allegedly tried to escape several times.
Psychologist Nicolas Yungman, who was not treating the woman, told local media that her symptoms, as described, could be indicative of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The woman will receive treatment at a health facility for 24 to 48 hours, Romano said on Thursday.
Auradou and Jegou spent last night at a police detention unit and be brought before prosecutor Cecilia Bignert at 9am local time (12pm GMT) on Friday, Martin Ahumada, a spokesman for the Mendoza prosecutor’s office said.
Upon being charged, the pair could be ordered to be held until a hearing 10 days later to determine whether they will have to await trial in custody.
Within the 10 days, the pair could bring an application to be released on probation or under house arrest, according to Ahumada.
The sentence for s3xual assault in Argentina ranges from six to 15 years, according to the penal code. The penalty can increase to 20 years in the case of two aggressors.
The accusations, which have left French rugby reeling and dominated news headlines in Argentina, came during a tour of South America by the French national squad.
The alleged attack took place Saturday night at the Diplomatic Hotel in Mendoza, where France’s players and staff were staying after beating Argentina in a test match.
Romano said the woman had gone with one of the men from a nightclub to a hotel room, where she alleges she was held against her will and abused for several hours.
‘The violence was fierce,’ said Romano. ‘There is more than one crime to investigate.’
Lawyer Rafael Cuneo Libarona, who represents the players, arrived in Mendoza on Wednesday and said ‘s3xual relations’ had been ‘consensual.’
‘There are witnesses who saw her leave (the hotel), there are cameras that saw her leave, apparently, no injuries are seen in the footage,’ Libarona – who is the brother of the country’s justice minister Mariano Cuneo Libarona – told journalists.
Romano said ‘the overwhelming proof that there was no consent is the victim’s body’ and the wounds she bears.
If the men are charged, the lawyer added, she would ask the court to remand them in pre-trial custody.
The charge, said Romano, should be r@pe with the use of violence.
French Rugby Federation (FFR) president Florian Grill, who is in Argentina, said the players have ‘a quite different version’ of events to that of the woman, with ‘a lot of inconsistencies.’
‘We are not judges, we are not investigators, but we think that the Argentine justice system should look at the case very quickly,’ he said.