France’s interior minister on Wednesday condemned an “anti-Semitic” attack on a young couple that saw armed assailants storm into their apartment, rape the woman and steal jewelry and bank cards, TheLocal.fr website reported.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve declared in a statement that the “anti-Semitic nature [of the attack] seems proven, ” adding that the assailants “started with the idea that being Jewish means having money.”
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The attack took place midday Monday, in Creteil, just outside Paris. The attackers, wearing masks and gloves, armed with an automatic pistol and a sawed-off shotgun, stormed the Jewish couple’s apartment, yelling “you Jews, you have money.” The man, 21, wears a yarmulke around the neighborhood, according to his attorney.
They tied up the couple, raped the 19-year-old woman and fled an hour later with the couple’s jewelry, bank cards and mobile phones.
Two suspects were charged on Wednesday with gang rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and extortion followed by violence due to religious affiliation, prosecutors said.
A third suspect in the attack remains at large.