Two days after the altercation, the legal proceedings took shape. Referred this Wednesday morning to the Lille public prosecutor’s office, the young girl accused of having slapped a teacher at her high school in Tourcoing (North) on Monday appeared in court as part of an immediate appearance this Wednesday. In the absence of the teacher, the student was granted a delay before being judged, and will appear on December 11. She was placed under judicial control with a ban on making contact with the victim and appearing at her home or near the school.
“I am sorry for the blows that I may have given this teacher and I hope that it will go well,” declared the young girl, black jacket over white t-shirt, hair in a bun, during the hearing . The 18-year-old high school student, a final year student in professional hospitality professions, will be judged for violence followed by an ITT of less than eight days and threatening to kill a person responsible for a public service mission.
The minister on site Thursday
On Monday, the student was placed in police custody after being suspected of having slapped a science and medico-social technology teacher at the Sévigné high school, who allegedly asked her to remove the veil she had just put on when she leave the establishment.
Classes, suspended on Tuesday, were also canceled on Wednesday to allow “time for discussion and work” for staff, the rectorate said in an email, specifying that the students who showed up at the high school were welcomed there. . The Minister of National Education Anne Genetet will visit the site on Thursday, we learned on Wednesday from those around her, confirming information from BFMTV.
According to initial investigations, the teacher asked the student “to remove her religious veil, before being subjected to insulting remarks,” the Lille prosecutor’s office told AFP. The teacher then “opposed his leaving the establishment in order to obtain his identity” and the student then “slapped the teacher, who returned it”. “Several blows, threats and shoving followed,” added prosecutor Carole Étienne.
The student, aged 18 and unknown to the police, then fled, before being arrested at her home and placed in police custody, according to a police source. An investigation has been opened.
“Non-compliance with the principle of secularism”
In a press release, the Lille rectorate deplored on Tuesday a “serious incident”, “concerning the non-respect of the principle of secularism within the establishment”. “After noting that a student was wearing the veil within the establishment, in contradiction with the rules of respect for secularism in force, the teacher asked her to remove the veil before leaving the premises,” a- he rewound. Then the young girl “insulted” and “violently attacked” him.
According to him, the teacher, who benefits from functional protection, filed a complaint, while the student is subject to “a precautionary measure”, “while waiting for a disciplinary council”. “A support system has been put in place by the rectorate for the entire educational community”, “as much as necessary”, he specified.
Rector Valérie Cabuil underlined in the press release that “the School of the Republic will not let any attack on its principles and values pass” and assured that “any attack on the physical integrity of teachers will be severely sanctioned”, addressing “ all its support to the teacher and to the entire educational community of the establishment.”
The Minister of Education, Anne Genetet, who spoke with the professor, announced that a “precautionary measure” had been taken against the student “to prohibit him from accessing the establishment until the meeting of its disciplinary council”. Pointing out an act which challenges the “secular school” and “the Republic”, she indicated that she had requested “very firm disciplinary sanctions”.
