”You don’t usually get very far in the investigation of these matters,” said prosecutor Karl-Erik Antonsson to news agency TT.

The six men allegedly beat the 19-year-old so severely with metal bars that he was close to losing his life.

The young man turned up bleeding at the reception of the local gym Alléhallen in Hallsberg in the beginning of October last year. He was quickly taken to hospital where medical staff performed emergency surgery to try to save his life.

Police suspect six men who had been in the gym as the attempted murder took place.

At first they thought that the motive was an underlying vendetta between two families, but as the details of the case unfolded, investigators instead started looking at the case as a honour-related crime.

The prosecutor believes that the men wanted to protect the daughter in their family after an alleged kidnapping attempt.

The prosecutor filed the charges against the men last week under the classification of attempted murder.

Four of the men allegedly deny having anything to do with the attack, while two admit to a certain degree of assault and battery, according to news agency TT.