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ASSAULT

Seven convicted in brutal gang rape case

Seven of the eight men charged with the aggravated rape of a woman at a housing facility for asylum seekers in Småland, southeastern Sweden, last year were convicted and sentenced to prison on Wednesday in the Eksjö District Court.

“I was hoping I’d pass out, that it would be over and that someone would enter the room,” said the woman, according to daily Aftonbladet.

The woman, a 29-year-old mother of two, had been having a good time at a party, which was held in early December 2011 in a flat inhabited by asylum seekers and part of a Migration Board (Migrationsverket) housing complex.

However, quite out of the blue, the seven men forced the woman into a bedroom, tore off her clothes, held down on a bed and proceeded to take turns raping her.

”I didn’t understand anything. I thought at first that they were joking. Everyone had been so nice before, and then suddenly it happened,” said the woman, according to Aftonbladet.

The men restrained her by holding her hips, arms and shoulders against the bed, and covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

She tried to get free by kicking her legs, thrashing with her body, and banging her head against the wall, but to no avail.

According to the woman, none of the perpetrators tried to stop the others from raping her once they had got started.

“They were clapping their hands and laughing and not one said no at any time,” she said during interrogation, according to the paper.

When the 25-year-old man who had initially brought the woman to the party returned to the flat after a few hours, the woman hoped he would save her, but instead he joined in with the others.

It wasn’t until some of the men had left and others fallen asleep that the woman managed to alert the police herself, after crouching behind a rubbish bin.

All seven men denied the allegations but the court found the body of evidence against them to be convincing. Two of the men admitted having had sex with the woman but claimed that it was consensual.

However, the court found the woman’s version of events to be credible and where she was unable to provide details there was other evidence to support her story.

The forensic investigation unearthed DNA traces both on the woman’s body and in the room where the rape took place.

One of the eight charged men were acquitted of the charges but the remaining seven received long prison sentences.

Four of the men were sentenced to six years in prison, two to six years and six months and another, below 21 years of age when the crime was committed, to 4 years and six months.

Prosecutors labelled the incident as a planned attack. All seven were therefore convicted of aggravated rape as they carried out the attack together.

Six of the convicted men are Afghan citizens and will be deported from Sweden and not allowed back for at least fifteen years after they have served their sentence.

The 29-year-old woman will also receive 300,000 kronor ($44,226) in compensation.

The Local/rm

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FOOTBALL

Bayern Munich footballer under investigation for assault

Bayern Munich and former German national team football star Jerome Boateng, 31, has been charged with assault after allegedly attacking his former partner, German prosecutors confirmed Tuesday.

Bayern Munich footballer under investigation for assault
Jerome Boateng earlier this year. Photo: DPA

“The Munich prosecutor's office has had proceedings open against Jerome Boateng for dangerous assault since autumn 2018.

Following extensive investigations, charges were brought on February 11th, 2019,” chief prosecutor Anne Leiding told AFP-subsidiary SID, confirming reports in German media outlets Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and WDR.

Leiding added that the court was yet to open the case, but had accepted an accessory prosecution from the alleged victim, named only as 'S.'.

According to the SZ and WDR reports, 'S.' is Boateng's former partner of 10 years and the mother of two of his three children.

Prosecutors also confirmed that Boateng was the subject of a separate police investigation into assault.

Former Germany central defender Boateng is one of the country's most successful players, having won the World Cup with Germany in 2014 and the Champions League with Bayern in 2013.

His career has declined in recent months, after he was dropped from the national squad earlier this year.

READ ALSO: Löw Blow: Why Müller, Hummels and Boateng deserved the axe

Boateng's relationship with his club has also suffered after he slipped down the defensive pecking order at German league champions Bayern.

In May, club president Uli Hoeness advised the 31-year-old to “find a new club”, but a mooted transfer to Italian giants Juventus fell through at the last minute on the final day of the European transfer window on Monday

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