Barcelona court acquits five men accused of gang-raping 14-year-old girl

Barcelona court acquits five men accused of gang-raping 14-year-old girl

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Monday, November 04, 2019, 11:53 AM IST
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A court in Barcelona acquitted five men accused of gang-raping a 14-year-old girl. On Thursday, the court acquitted the accused after saying the crime did not fit the legal definition of rape because the unconscious teenage victim didn't fight back.

According to CNN, under Spanish law, a sexual attack can only be classified as an assault or rape if the perpetrator uses violence or intimidation. Because the 14-year-old victim was unconscious, the five were convicted of a lesser charge of sexual abuse. The Barcelona court sentenced the five men to 10 to 12 years in prison, despite the prosecution arguing they should be charged with assault.

The five men were found guilty of abusing the girl at a disused factory in Manresa, a town in the north-eastern region of Catalonia, in October 2016. The court heard that the group was partying in an abandoned factory, when the victim consumed "alcohol and drugs" and became unconscious.

The men then took turns performing sexual acts on the teenager, according to a statement published on the court's website, reported CNN. The court further added that the victim was "in a state of unconsciousness ... without being able to determine and accept or oppose the sexual relations maintained with defendants, who could perform sexual acts without using any type of violence or intimidation." The court said the attack had to be classified as sexual abuse because "it has been proven that the victim, while the events took place ... was in a state of unconsciousness," according to a statement published on its website.

The court eventually awarded the victim €12,000 (£10,300) damages for an attack it described as "extremely severe and especially denigrating". Judges expressed "surprise" that the prosecutors changed the charge at the last minute to sexual assault from the initial accusation of sexual abuse. They said they could not see the reasons for the more serious assault offence in the prosecution's arguments.

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