Prosecutors have charged two French rugby players with aggravated sexual assault, the latest development in the case of a woman who said she was repeatedly raped by the athletes after they took her to their hotel room and prevented her from leaving.
The public prosecutor’s office in the western Argentine city of Mendoza – where the alleged attack took place after a friendly match between the French team and the Argentine Pumas – ordered that the two players Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou be kept in custody pending trial.
After their arrest in Buenos Aires, 21-year-old Jegou and 20-year-old Auradou were taken to Mendoza, 1,000 kilometers away, for their first court appearance. They refused to testify at Friday’s hearing.
The French Rugby Federation had previously stated that the players had admitted to having sex with the woman, but described it as consensual and denied any violence.
The woman’s lawyer, Natacha Romano’s, account of the attack sparked outrage in France and also caused a stir in Argentina, where recent scandals involving professional athletes have raised questions about misogyny and sexual violence in the sports community.
Romano told the Associated Press late Friday that the woman had been diagnosed with an acutely bleeding ulcer and other injuries that appeared to be related to the attack. She remains in the hospital “in a state of shock and extreme stress.”
She said the woman was under strict medical supervision as she was suffering from severe depressive mood disorder as a result of the incident.
Prosecutors said the court would soon decide whether to grant the defendant’s request for house arrest.
Romano has said her client met Auradou at a nightclub where the team was celebrating its victory and then went to his hotel room for another drink. She says Auradou became violent, forcing her to perform non-consensual sexual acts and preventing her from leaving before Jegou later joined in the assault, Romano said.
After escaping the hotel room, Romano said, the woman reported the incident to police and underwent a physical examination.
In Argentina, aggravated sexual assault carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. The minimum sentence is eight years.
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