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French school to test DNA of male pupils and staff in search for rapist
French school to test DNA of male pupils and staff in search for rapist
(about 20 hours later)
A private Catholic school in France is to test the DNA of all male pupils and staff to try and identity the rapist of a 16-year-old girl who was attacked in the school toilets.
A school in western France is to take DNA samples from all male pupils and staff as the hunt continues for a rapist who attacked a 16-year-old girl in the school toilets.
In the first mass screening of its kind, 527 students and staff will be genetically tested from Monday at the Fenelon-Notre-Dame high school, in La Rochelle, The Guardian reported.
In all, 527 men and boys will be tested at the Fenelon-Notre-Dame Catholic high school, in La Rochelle, The Guardian reported.
The victim said she was unable to identify the rapist, who attacked her from behind after the light on an automatic time switch went off, according to the prosecutor Isabelle Pagenelle.
According to prosecutor Isabelle Pagenelle, the victim was unable to identify her assailant, who attacked her from behind after the light on an automatic time switch went off. The attack took place on 30 September last year.
Traces of DNA were found on the girl’s clothes and investigators will attempt to match it to saliva swabs taken over the next three days.
Traces of DNA were found on the girl’s clothes and investigators will attempt to match it to saliva swabs taken over the next three days. No match was found with the victim’s family and friends.
Those to be tested include 475 pupils, 31 staff and 21 other employees who were in the school at the time of the attack on 30 September last year.
Those to be tested include 475 pupils, 31 staff and 21 other employees who were in the school at the time.
Pagenelle told a news conference that the DNA had tested negatively against the victim's family and friends.
But with authorities saying anyone who refuses to take part will be considered a suspect, the process has sparked opposition.
But the genetic testing has caused controversy, especially as the authorities say that anyone who refuses to take part will be considered a suspect.
Pierre Tartakowsky, the president of the French human rights league, told Le Parisien newspaper that the testing was “disproportionate, threatening and traumatising”.
“I understand the argument that those who have done nothing wrong have no reason to refuse. But why should refusal be considered an admission of guilt?” said Pierre Tartakowsky, president of the French human rights league.
But the school’s head teacher, Chantal Devaux, said: “We have followed every lead before going down this route. We don’t have any other choice.”
He told Sunday's edition of Le Parisien newspaper that the testing was “disproportionate, threatening and traumatising”.
Françoise Martres, the head of the French magistrates' union, said: “The issue is to know whether the sole fact of being a pupil at this establishment is a plausible enough reason to become a suspect.”
Pagenelle said there was a significant probability that the attacker was from the school. She said police had a list of all those on the premises at the time of the rape.
Headteacher Chantal Devaux, who informed pupils and their parents on Friday about the testing, said: ”We have followed every lead before going down this route. We don't have any other choice.“
Genetic testing of minors at the school will require parental approval. The results will be known within a month. Pagenelle said all results unconnected to the rape would be destroyed.
