Eight boys who gang-raped a disabled classmate at a Spanish school will not be investigated because they were under 14, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, while the victim’s grandmother detailed the horrific attack.
The assault on a 12-year-old disabled girl occurred at a school in Peñaflor, Seville, in May, according to Europa Press, who had access to a police report filed by the boy’s family.
But as all the children involved in the horrific attack were born between 2011 and 2012, meaning they are aged between 12 and 13, it means the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office “cannot carry out any kind of investigation”.
According to the Spanish Juvenile Law, when the perpetrator of a rape is under 14 years old, he or she will not be held accountable before the law.
As a result, the case has been transferred to Child Protective Services.
The grieving grandparents (who did not share their identities) of a disabled 12-year-old girl who was gang-raped by eight classmates while at school in Seville last month have detailed the horrific attack.
“They grabbed my hands and spread my legs,” the 12-year-old girl told her mother after being attacked
The gang rape took place in the Seville town of Peñaflor. In the image: Peñaflor Town Hall
But the Andalusian regional minister for social inclusion, youth, family and equality said at a press conference last week that the Andalusian government is in contact with the public prosecutor’s office.
‘From now on, what we are going to do is put in place all the mechanisms to protect the girl, obviously, to finance the origin of that conduct, and based on that, adopt the appropriate measures.’
According to the police document, the girl was “removed from the sight of students and teachers and taken to the girls’ bathroom” during a recess, where the gang rape allegedly occurred.
Speaking to Spanish television show ‘Y Ahora Sonsoles’, the girl’s distraught grandmother, whose identity was not shared, detailed the horrific incident.
“They grabbed my hands and spread my legs and made love to me,” the girl reportedly told her grandmother, to which her grandmother replied: “No, dear, that is not making love.”
The Councillor for Social Integration, Youth, Family and Equality, Loles López, has assured that she is in contact with the Public Prosecutor’s Office following its decision not to investigate eight schoolchildren who gang-raped their disabled classmate because they were under 14 years old.
Her grandmother also described the “hell” the young woman endured in the following days, as she did not speak openly about the assault until several days later.
She did not want to go to school, she did not eat and she did not sleep, her grandmother told another media outlet, Telemadrid.
She also repeatedly pulled herself up and threw herself to the ground, before finally opening up to her grandmother.
She was then taken to hospital for examination. The forensic medical team confirmed that the girl had been penetrated, according to her grandmother.
Horrified Spaniards have taken to social media to express their concern at the decision not to investigate the schoolchildren further.
One X user, formerly of Twitter, said: “If legislation is not urgently passed, these atrocities will continue, once again in a school that washes its hands of it.”
Another said: “Please, what is happening to society? It is clear that we are doing it wrong and we are treating children badly.”
López added that she is preparing a campaign through the Andalusian Women’s Institute to raise awareness about consent among minors.
Last month, a Spanish court acquitted a man who raped a 12-year-old girl and left her pregnant with twins after ruling that their relations were simply part of Gypsy culture.
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