Intolerance in Reims

Stuff reports:

A young woman was beaten up by a gang of girls as she sunbathed in a park wearing a bikini.

It is thought the five attackers objected to their victim being immodestly dressed in public.

They pulled her hair, punched her and slapped her around the face, leaving her badly bruised.

The incident, which has prompted outcry on social media, took place as the 21-year-old victim, Angelique Slosse, lay in the sun with two friends in a park in the French city of Reims, north of Paris.

As the gang walked by, words were exchanged. At one stage one of the attackers was heard to say: “Go and get dressed.”

Another verbally abused her for “immorally” exposing so much bare flesh in a public place. Miss Slosse replied to their comments and was attacked. She suffered severe bruising and has not been able to go to work since the incident last Wednesday.

The five attackers, aged between 16 and 24, were arrested.

Police said the victim was not able to tell them whether her attackers were motivated by religious views.

Last night the local police superintendent, Julie Galisson, said: “It was a fight between young girls which degenerated after one of the authors of the aggression said, ‘Get dressed, it’s not summer’.”

One of those arrested would not leave Miss Slosse alone and this degenerated into violence, Mrs Galisson said.

She added: “As is clear from the statement of the victim and those implicated, there is no religious or moral element which explains the aggression.”

I’d bet a huge amount of money that the attackers are Muslim, and their aggression was religiously motivated.

The Independent reports:

The authorities have not named them but said that they all came from housing estates with large Muslim populations.

It is incidents like this that cause people to question whether those with strong Islamist beliefs can integrate into non-Muslim countries.

This is not just a case of not integrating, but trying to force your religious values onto other citizens by force.

Religion should be personal to you. Live life as you think your God demands. But the moment you start using force to try and compel others to also live by your religious beliefs – well it is a form of religious fascism.