The public prosecutor’s office in Mendoza (Argentina), where the investigation concerning Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou is being conducted after a complaint of aggravated rape, ruled a week ago in favor of a dismissal of the case which will be studied at a scheduled hearing to October 18.
In a document submitted to the prosecution, the plaintiff’s lawyers accuse the opposing camp of having “maintained that the complainant suffered from an illness, without supporting medical study“. They inform that they requested a medical consultation with an independent hematologist, who allegedly declared that the complainant “did not suffer from the disease“.
The rugby players’ lawyer, Antoine Vey, assured that the investigation had shown that the woman “had hidden from the courts that she suffered from Willebrand disease“, a hemorrhagic pathology, coagulation disorder, which can predispose to bruising or bleeding.
Another defender of the players, Rafael Cuneo Libarona, considered that the approach of the plaintiff’s lawyers constituted a “new shameful maneuver” to delay the procedure, specifying that the woman had herself admitted to suffering from Willebrand disease.
According to the forensic reports, the complainant presented at least “15 marks or injuries” on his body. Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, both aged 21, are charged with aggravated rape committed in a meeting for alleged acts that occurred on the night of July 6 to 7 in a hotel room in Mendoza, where the XV of France had just played a test match against Argentina.
The two players have maintained from the beginning that the sexual relations with the complainant, whom they met in a nightclub, were consensual. And they deny any violence, while the plaintiff’s lawyer mentioned “terrible violence“, who saw his client”savagely beaten“.
First detained then placed under house arrest, they were released in mid-August, then authorized to leave Argentina pending the end of the investigation. They returned to France on September 4, and have since resumed training in their clubs. Hugo Auradou played again in the Top 14 championship on October 5 with Pau.
