After 145 individuals reported being pierced with syringes during the Fête de la Musique in Paris, French police have detained 12 suspects.
Authorities reported “unprecedented crowds” on the streets of Paris this weekend, as millions of individuals attended the festival. According to the interior ministry, 145 individuals were reportedly wounded with needles during outdoor music events throughout the nation. The Paris police have registered at least 13 cases in the city. The presence of date-rape drugs, such as Rohypnol or GHB, in the needles has not been confirmed by officials. These drugs are frequently employed by assailants to make their victims unconscious.
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When a 15-year-old female and an 18-year-old male reported being stabbed, investigations were initiated into the needle pricking incidents. They reported experiencing symptoms of illness subsequent to the incident. According to the French police, four of the detainees were apprehended in the city of Angoulême and are suspected of having targeted approximately fifty victims. Additionally, two individuals were apprehended in Metz on suspicion of participating in hypodermic attacks.
Abrège Soeur, a feminist influencer, issued a warning regarding social media postings that advocated for the use of syringes to assault women at the festival. She forewarned the public that there were online posts encouraging individuals to use needles to attack women. Her online postings drew attention to the possibility of “needle spiking,” a phenomenon that has occurred at other festivals throughout Europe.
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Several young women in Évreux and Rouen, Normandy, have reported being wounded with syringes, according to a local public radio station, Ici France. A woman was transported to the hospital with symptoms of discomfort after she suspected that a needle had been inserted into her left arm. Thirteen women in Tours reported to the officers on duty that they had been wounded with a syringe.
“Needle spiking” is regrettably not a novel phenomenon in the European live music scene. In 2021, the United Kingdom recorded more than 1,000 reports of needle rising, with the majority of these reports emanating from Notthingham, Brighton, Eastbourne, and Northern Ireland respectively. The police initiated inquiries into those incidents; however, prosecutions were not pursued.
In 2022, 14 spectators at a football match in Belgium reported experiencing a prick and becoming nauseated. Between 2021 and 2022, there were more than 300 allegations of needle spiking at French nightclubs. The 2022 Fête de la Musique in Paris was the source of some of those complaints. Nantes, Grenoble, and Toulouse are additional cities that have been reported to have experienced needle spiking activity. The majority of syringe strikes, according to authorities, occur on the arms, buttocks, or back of the victims, without the victims being able to see their alleged assailant.
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