Two French international rugby players were formally charged on Friday with raping an Argentine woman during a post-match hangout, according to a statement from prosecutors.
The accused, Hugo Oradou, 20, and Oscar Zegué, 21, decided “not to testify” during a hearing in the city of Mendoza, where the rape took place after Saturday’s match between France and Argentina.
The prosecutor’s office “formally charged two French citizens with the crime of sexual assault involving two people,” the statement said, using the Argentine legal definition of rape.
Both will remain in custody during further investigation. The statement said the defense’s request to keep them under house arrest “will be addressed in due course.”
The two men were arrested in Buenos Aires on Monday after a 39-year-old woman accused them of repeatedly raping and beating her in a Mendoza hotel room after the match, which was part of the French national team’s tour of South America.
The men denied the charge, saying they had consensual sex with the woman.
The players were taken by car on Thursday from Interpol’s Buenos Aires headquarters to Mendoza, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) west.
Meanwhile, the 39-year-old woman’s lawyer, Natasha Romano, said her client was hospitalised on Thursday after feeling emotionally and physically ill “due to what happened”.
Psychologist Nicholas Jungman, who was not treating the woman, told local media that her symptoms, as described, could be signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Romano said the woman will receive treatment at a health facility for 24 to 48 hours.
Up to 20 years in prison
If found guilty, the players could face eight to 20 years in prison.
Defence lawyer Romano told AFP on Wednesday that his client had suffered “horrific” violence at the hands of her attackers in the hotel room, leaving her with injuries to her face, back, breasts, legs and ribs, as well as bites and scratches on her body.
According to the lawyer, the woman claims that one of the men raped her “at least six times” and the other raped her once.
He reportedly tried to escape several times.
The attack reportedly took place on Saturday night at the Diplomatic Hotel in Mendoza, where France’s players and staff were staying after beating Argentina.
Romano told AFP the woman had gone with a man from the nightclub to a hotel room, where she alleged she was held against her will and abused for several hours.
“The violence was severe,” Romano said. “There is more than one crime to investigate.”
Rafael Cuneo Libarona, a lawyer representing the players, arrived in Mendoza on Wednesday and said the “sexual relations” were “consensual.”
“There are witnesses who saw him leaving (the hotel). There are also cameras that show him leaving. Obviously the footage doesn’t show any injuries,” Libarona – who is the brother of Justice Minister Mariano Cuneo Libarona – told reporters.
“The victim’s body and the injuries on her body are strong evidence that this was not consensual,” Romano told AFP.
French Rugby Federation (FFR) president Florian Grill, who is in Argentina, told AFP the players have a “quite different version” of the incident from the one described by the woman, with “considerable discrepancies”.
“We are not judges. We are not investigators. But we believe the Argentine justice system should consider this case quickly,” he said.
Lock Mickaël Guillard and flanker Judicael Cancoriet have been included in place of Aradou and Zegou for Saturday’s second match against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
