French Schoolboy Dies As Macron Warns Of Teenage Violence

A French schoolboy on Friday died from wounds sustained in a violent assault, as President Emmanuel Macron warned schools should be protected from "uninhibited violence" among some youths

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Apr, 2024) A French schoolboy on Friday died from wounds sustained in a violent assault, as President Emmanuel Macron warned schools should be protected from "uninhibited violence" among some youths.

The 15-year-old teenager was badly beaten Thursday near his school in a town south of Paris and rushed to hospital following a cardiac arrest.

He died of his wounds early on Friday afternoon, a prosecutor said.

It was the second such assault this week, after a 13-year-old girl was left temporarily comatose after being attacked outside her school in the southern city of Montpellier on Tuesday.

Both incidents came at a time of heightened tensions around French schools, after threats of attacks were sent to dozens of educational establishments via an internal messaging system.

"We have a form of uninhibited violence among our teenagers and sometimes among increasingly younger ones," Macron said earlier in the day as he visited a Primary school in Paris.

"Schools need to be shielded from this," he said, adding they should "remain a sanctuary for our children, for their families, for our teachers."

"We will be intransigent against all forms of violence," he said. He however added it was now up to the investigators to shed light on both incidents.

- 'Thugs' -

In the latest beating, several people attacked the 15-year-old as he left school Thursday afternoon in a low-income district of Viry-Chatillon, a town around 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Paris.

The schoolboy suffered cardiorespiratory arrest, a police source said.

He was rushed to the Necker hospital, a top paediatric hospital in Paris, according to Jean-Marie Vilain, the mayor of Viry-Chatillon.

He said the boy was set upon as he walked home after a music class, accusing the assailants of being "the worst kind of thugs".

"This extreme violence is becoming commonplace," he added.

Another police source said three youths wearing balaclavas assaulted the boy in the hall of a building.

No arrests had been made, but police were examining CCTV footage.

The public prosecutor's office said it was conducting a probe into murder and gang assault.

Outside the school on Friday morning, before the boy died, fellow students said they were shocked he was attacked.

The schoolboy, identified as Shamseddine, "got on well with everyone", said one female pupil who asked to remain anonymous.

A football under his arm, 12-year-old Matheo, another student, said he was scared the attackers would come back.