Two French rugby players accused of raping and assaulting an Argentine woman who is now in hospital have been charged in the case, a justice source told AFP on Thursday.
Hugo Auradou20, and Oscar Jegou, 21, were arrested in Buenos Aires on Monday after the woman accused them of raping her multiple times and brutally beating her in a hotel room in the city of Mendoza after a match.
They deny the accusation and say the sexual relations with the woman were consensual.
The players were transferred by car on Thursday from Interpol headquarters in Buenos Aires to Mendoza, where they are expected to be formally charged on Friday.
Meanwhile, the 39-year-old woman’s lawyer, Natacha Romano, said her client was hospitalized on Thursday because she felt emotionally and physically ill “because of everything that happened.”
Psychologist Nicolas Yungman, who did not treat the woman, told local media that her symptoms, as described, could indicate post-traumatic stress disorder.
The woman will be treated at a health facility for 24 to 48 hours, Romano said.
– House arrest? –
Auradou and Jegou will remain in a police cell on Thursday evening and will be brought before prosecutor Cecilia Bignert at 9:00 a.m. local time (12:00 GMT) on Friday, Mendoza Public Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Martin Ahumada told AFP.
Once charged, the duo could be held until a hearing in ten days, at which time it will be determined whether they will have to await trial in custody.
According to Ahumada, the pair could file a request to be placed under supervision or house arrest within ten days.
The penalty for sexual abuse in Argentina ranges from six to fifteen years, according to the penal code. The penalty can go up to twenty years in the case of two assailants.
Romano told AFP on Wednesday that her client had suffered “severe” violence from her attackers in a hotel room, leaving her with injuries to her face, back, breasts, legs and ribs, as well as multiple bite and scratch wounds.
According to the lawyer, the woman claims she was raped “at least six times” by one of the men and once by the other.
She is said to have tried to escape several times.
– ‘The violence was intense’ –
The allegations, which rocked the French rugby world and dominated headlines in Argentina, were made during a tour of South America by the French national team.
The alleged attack took place on Saturday night at the Diplomatic Hotel in Mendoza, where the French players and staff were staying after a test match against Argentina.
Romano told AFP the woman went from a nightclub to a hotel room with one of the men, where she said she was held against her will and abused for hours.
“The violence was intense,” Romano said. “There’s more than one crime to investigate.”
Lawyer Rafael Cuneo Libarona, who represents the players, arrived in Mendoza on Wednesday and said the “sexual relations” had been “consensual.”
“There are witnesses who saw her leave (the hotel), there are cameras that saw her leave, but apparently the images show no injuries,” Libarona, the brother of the country’s Justice Minister Mariano Cuneo Libarona, told reporters.
Romano told AFP that “the victim’s body” and the wounds she bears are “overwhelming evidence that there was no consent”.
If the men are charged, the lawyer will ask the court to remand them in custody.
The charge, Romano said, should be rape with use of force.
Florian Grill, the president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), who is in Argentina, told AFP the players had “a very different version” of events to the woman, with “many inconsistencies”.
“We are not judges, we are not investigators, but we believe that the Argentine justice system should investigate the case very quickly,” he said.
Aradou and Jegou have been replaced by lock Mickael Guillard and flanker Judicael Cancoriet for Saturday’s second test match against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
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